Anniversary

Baby Katai was a baby

I can’t believe that today is my 4 year anniversary with Katai! Four years ago today I actually, after nearly 3 hours, got her loaded in a trailer and home to the place I was living/boarding at the time. She proceeded to run through every wire fence on the property and even visit the neighbors within the first 20 minutes that she was with me. She also came up to me, let me catch her, and that whole adventure didn’t end in any sort of disaster because I feel like we already had some sort of connection (all of the treats I’d given her when working to get her loaded probably helped).

The next year and a half were a lesson in patience for me since she wasn’t completely convinced that she wanted to be a riding pony, or a pony that listened to people in general. She was rude, pushy, jumpy, naughty, aggressive, couldn’t be tied, couldn’t be blanketed etc. I kept on working and seeing small glimpses of how amazing she could be and only once in a while lost hope that she would be an amazing dressage partner. Then during our second year together we started working with a dressage trainer that ruined her relaxation and my confidence in my pony. I nearly sold her and doubted that I had ever seen any real talent in her but for some reason I couldn’t actually ever list her for sale and so after about 6 months with that trainer we “escaped” to a temporary barn where I painstakingly started to put things back together. Katai was still anxious and didn’t trust me on the ground but I very slowly started to get my pony back under saddle.

Then during our third year together we found L. I started to take twice monthly lessons with her and eventually went back to weekly lessons. She believed in us and started to help me believe in us again as well. She slowed things down, helped teach me how to get Katai more relaxed, and fundamentally changed the way that Katai moves and the way that I ride. Katai and I slowly started to get our connection back on the ground and under saddle.

After a tough year of work and slow improvement I needed to move Katai for my own financial reasons. For some reason the universe conspired to get me to exactly the right place at exactly the right time and I’m now working with an absolutely incredible instructor who not only is continuing to improve my riding and Katai’s way of going but is also actively working on our relationship as horse and rider. She’s one of the best teachers I’ve ever worked with including the professors I worked with as I was obtaining my BA and MA and all of the music teachers I had from when I was 5-24.

Here’s to another 4 years with this amazing little mare.

She doesn't look it, but trust me she's enthusiastic about this