Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Audrey and Jigalo

Several weeks ago, Jamie, Shari and Audrey (plus Granny) went to watch Abby at a Regional Horse Show in Waukesha. Thatch was also there being the "husband/groom" - a position in which he excels!

When we got to the show, Audrey was a little nervous around the horses. The last time we took her to see Jigalo, she was quite frightened. She is a little girl and he is a BIG horse! In the grand scheme of things, Jigalo is an average sized horse, but to a three year old - a GIANT.

We encouraged her to go into Jiggy's stall and brush him while he was tied up and tired from his dressage class. Audrey took a brush and very gently gave him a quick swipe on his side. When he turned to look at her, she dashed out of his stall. A little later, she wanted to go back into Jigala's stall (she calls him Jigala - his name is Jigalo)! She braved feeding him a carrot - of course Abby's hand was close by in case the big teeth crunched fingers instead of carrots. He really does love his carrots.

Finally she said she wanted to ride Jigala. We couldn't believe she was brave enough to get on his back but she had been watching the other people ride all day - and her confidence in Jigalo's quiet nature was high. Abby put her on Jiggy's back in his stall and she sat on there for a few minutes. You had to see the big smile on her face. She was scared to death, but quite proud of herself.


Later, we took her outside and let Jigalo walk around with her on his back. She had her "spotters" on each side to keep her safe. If she got a little off balance, Jigalo would stop in his tracks. That's how you can tell when you have a good horse, if he knows his rider is uncomfortable or off balance, he stops instead of runs away.

Abby and I are ready for her to go to horse shows....but her mother and father are not quite as anxious. They see dollar bills flying out the window! But Abby and I will persevere - we'll have her in a leadline class in no time!!!

By the way - Abby and Jigalo won a Regional Championship in a Training Level 4 dressage test. We were all proud of that team! However, they couldn't have done it without the husband/groom and his support.

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