A couple days before I had ridden Chica around more of the property while ponying Rosa, boldly going where no two year old has gone before. At least, not Rosa. The only time she really spooked or was concerned was when Chica...passed gas, and I suppose startled her. Rosa "bolted" straight into Chica's side, and I prepared for a beat down of epic proportions. My forgiving, lovely mare didn't even flinch. She's come a long way since Katy Cowgirls.
I saddled up both horses and taught the bf how to clean hooves. While doing this, some neighbors rode by on four-wheelers, one of which repeatedly backfired and sounded like a gun shot going off next to my head. My whole body tensed up and in slow motion my mind went "Nooooooooo" as I turned to Rosa, bracing myself for the worse. She didn't flinch. Even Chica got a little startled by the noise, but my spooky little baby just glanced over her shoulder at them, shrugged, and carried on.
Phew.
Afterwards, I got Philip up on Chica (in my English saddle, no less). While he rode around and got acclimated to her, I longed Rosa. Warming her up was non-eventful, so after about 20 minutes or so, we headed out.
I'm not foolish enough to take my two year old, who I've never loped before, out someplace where one of us could seriously get hurt. Like, say, my road, where cars whiz past at 50 mph+. Instead I rode her over next door to my landlord's yard. And guess what? She led the way, without hesitation. We even left Chica behind several times. There was no spooking, no silly babyness...then, we got to the "bridge" part of my landlord's driveway. It's not really a bridge, just a place where the sides of the road drop away for about seven yards.
Rosa was NOT having it.
I could have fought with her about it, but between the mower buzzing around the corner, my landlord's dog barking like an idiot, and my landlords' kids throwing stuff, I didn't want to push her anymore. So I called for Philip to ride across first with Chica while I made Rosa stand and consider her choices. We then rode across it without hesitation, and she discovered it actually wasn't a horse-eating monster. She even led the way back over it as we headed back to my place.
Everything was going really well, and I was relaxed. But then, without warning, the four-wheelers came whipping around the corner again. I barely managed to yell out a four letter word at Philip and dismounted my horse in record time. The engine backfired, and again Rosa just stood and didn't react. I glanced behind me to see how Philip had fared and was surprised to find him standing next to Chica, who this time was also unaffected. I just laughed and decided to walk the horses back to the trailer to unsaddle.
So. Now what? It appears that the little mare has a pretty sound mind floating around in that baby brain. And now I don't want to sell her. I've really enjoyed trail riding and would love to take Chica out more if it weren't for her feet, but maybe Rosa can eventually fill that hole for me.
Of course, I have someone that may or may not be coming out to look at her--you never know until the person is at your house, even if you have talked to them on the phone several times--and if they do come out, I'll sell her if they want to buy her. But I've decided not to market her anymore. If it comes down to it and I have to sell her, then so be it. In the meanwhile, I'd like to see what else this little girl has up her sleeve.
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