Meet Dexter - my new trail horse

As mentioned in yesterday's post, Dexter and I are now going under saddle thanks to the patient tutelage of Rob Kroeger at Wareabouts Training Stable. Dexter and I had 3 weeks with Rob before he was completely healed and ready to take all his clients back.

It was like being at horse boot camp and I loved every minute spent at Wareabouts. It is a beautiful setting right along Ware creek - hence the name Wareabouts. The owners of Wareabouts Training Stable, Peter & Sharon are very easy folks to be around, as is Rob. There is an atmosphere of tranquility that is the perfect environment to train horses, and as I was fortunate to experience - train people too.

The really cool thing about working with Rob is that he knew the "old" Dexter as well because I can assure you that if he didn't, he wouldn't have believed a word I said. Dexter was calm and adapted to everything we asked of him - even being in a strang environment. Dexter made himself at home the very first night; while Rob says it isn't uncommon for horses to take several days to a couple of weeks to settle in.

Most of the horses on the property were taking turns keeping Jack company in the adjoining stall. Dexter was so relaxed, that Rob shared that honour with Dexter as well. To my knowledge, Dexter hasn't ever been in a stall but again he took it all very calmly. Needless to say, it was very reassuring for me to discover Dexter's adaptability to various situations. On one of our rides up a steep hill, I was following Rob on Wa Wa, and Linda on Lady when Lady's feet slipped out from under her. She was able to regain her footing without mishap. Then the same thing happened to Dexter; his front legs slipped right under him and when he lurched forward, my feet must have come out of the stirrups. The next thing I knew, I was standing and watching Dexter's little head sliding down the hill right out from underneath me. Where is a camera when we needed it? Rob and Linda said it looked very elegant in slow motion and there I stood on my feet - completely unscathed. Dexter's slide was stopped by trees and when he got back to his feet, I led him up the rest of the hill and he was completely unperturbed by his experience. Dexter and I still have a lot of work to do but we have built up a lot of confidence in each other over the past three weeks so the rest will be fine tuning. This is shaping up to be a great riding season. After last year's dismal riding season, I will be even more grateful. Tovie & Dexter