The big new, however, is that I have Sam driving. I took it slow with him because I needed to make sure he was not going to have a bad experience and what I have noticed with my Icys is that they hang onto a bad experience as proof that something is going to get them. So I took it slow and made sure he was really ready before I went on to the next step. Because the trainer's horses are the last ones to get worked, I had to hire myself to make sure Sam had the time put in on him that he needed. It has payed off and I am happy to say that my little Icelandic Sam I Am is driving in a cart. He is still in the early stages, but he has accepted it without a fuss and I expect him to continue in fine form. The next step after has some miles on him will be to take him some places for him to get used to other people and horse and carriages. One thing at a time, though.
He is very cute and he is such a good mover. I love to watch him trot(yup, no tolt here) and he does the most relaxed canter. Right now he is in a cart and that is where he will stay for some months now. I don't put them into a 4 wheel vehicle until they are pretty comfortable in the cart. I will also have my student, Kristi, drive him eventually so that he gets used to someone else. They seem to be kind of one person horses. Sam even showed a jealous streak when I got a new dog this summer. He snubbed me for almost a week when I first brought JJ into the barn. Tried to run the dog down as well. You could just tell he was miffed by the intruder. Now they don't think anything about the other, but it was pretty interesting at the time.
The others have also settled into the routine of the barn. I eventually moved all of them into the barn proper and they all settled down in that community well. When I had some outside horses come in this fall, I moved Blue and Shilo back out into the arena. It is working out well. I put them in separate poddocks, Sam and Shilo together, Trick and Treat together and Blue alone. I was having trouble with Blue pulling away when we were letting him out in the paddock with Sam and Shilo, I finally decided that, because he is low man on the totem pole, he was bolting to get his place at the hay before they could chase him around. When I put him along, he actually relaxed and I was able to work him out of the bolt away syndrome. He is much friendlier when he is along. He have Bo(young hackney horse) to chat with across the fence.
All of them come right up to be caught now and they have relaxed enough that when I come in to water in the buckets in the stalls, they continue to eat instead of stopping to keep an eye on me. Trick is starting to tell me he wants more of my attention, so he will be next to work.
I've attached a short video clip of Sam on his first drive. He was a real champ! I drove him again today without a helper and he was just as good or better. So far we are still at the walk stage, but he will be ready to trot in a couple of more workouts. I'm very excited about my little Sam.
I will try not to be so long in updating this again. Kind of hard to keep up with everything I am doing.
