My horse friend, Echo, and her rider Emily went to Port Orchard for a dressage clinic. They had a blast, but on the first of the two days they had a little walk to get to the outdoor arena for a short longe session. On the walk they saw some handsome horses, some fencing, some trees, a house and.... what are those???!!! The red Scottish Highland cow raced across his corral and charged the fence. Echo took a few gigantic strides to leap away, stopped, turned and snorted. She grew to seem like she was 19 hands tall, and was simply alarmed by the strange look and sudden appearance of this creature! She settled down and walked to the arena, was very good on the longe line, then walked back past the cattle with no excitement but some more snorting (just in case?).
The riding sessions during the clinic were terrific. After 2-1/2 years off from work (yikes!), she is coming back better than ever. Echo is just 8 years old, and while Emily has been wishing the two of them worked together more consistently, it looks like they're on their way! The clnician was Dora Dean, a very positive trainer based in Redmond. Dora urges her riders to pat and praise the horses often, which makes for happy horses and riders. All riders should praise their mounts! Dora is very precise and careful to ask the riders for correct work, always improving their way of going.
Echo traveled to the clinic with her old friend Sir. They were well behaved, which is a good thing, as they traveled down the road and onto the Rhododendron ferry to Tacoma, then about 25 miles to Port Orchard. Both horses enjoyed excellent hospitality in the barn and the big turn outs while staying at Big Steel Ranch. It was cool both days and rainy on Tuesday, but with a covered arena to ride in, the horses and people had nothing to complain about! Echo told the horses all about it when she got home on Tuesday night. We do enjoy hearing stories from off the farm. Good job in the arena, Echo, and especially good job keeping Emily safe from those long horned steers!
