Current assessment and status: PYE is doing great! Her health is great, she is sound, and her foster barn is working hard on helping her gain weight.
Trainer update:
This horse continues to impress everyone!! Her sweet, sweet demeanor is endearing and a pleasure to work with! She is doing well and gaining strength. She definitely needs (and appreciates!) a quiet rider who understands a horse that is sensitive and forward. She is not for a child rider, as she has more go than whoa but she isn’t dangerous. I think she could definitely intimidate someone though, if they felt that underneath and clamped down instead of got softer. She is sweet, and quiet on the ground. She is getting great at accepting a quiet leg and seat, vs when she arrived, she would think any leg meant to just go fast fast. She is a perfect angel on the ground – ground ties, LOVES being groomed, great when tacked up etc. She was also used in a Pony Club exercise with 5 little kiddos all around her in the grooming stall. We are also working her on the ground (like everyone), a lot. She is getting better about being balanced more on the circle and she is doing better with ground pole work to help muscle up her hind (especially). When she arrived, she absolutely would not stand to be mounted. She was nervous and wanted to just GO! She always needed someone on the ground to assure her to stand for mounting. Now, tho, she is more quiet each time she is mounted and doesn’t need someone on the ground. I think that is a combo of the ground work, her confidence, and her being worked quietly.
Pye is very sensitive, which is great! She has great manners (leading, ground tying, lunging and better everyday about standing to be mounted). It takes a little while, under saddle, for her to realize we don’t want her to race around, and she can just settle down, and have a quiet ride. She has been working on collection, as well as, long and low, stretching out. She can be energetic but definitely not malicious. She needs a quiet, soft-handed, experienced rider that can work with her on the slow. Once she settles, she is amazing!! She has been ridden in both English and Western tack. No beginners please!
