London Lullaby has found his person

I am one of those people who believe that a horse picks its person. I can typically tell right away if it’s going to be a good match. Some horses are just so easy peasy they don’t seem to care who rides them but others are slightly opinionated Horse shopping is stressful for buyers but also for sellers. I do get nervous each time people come to see horses. I just want everything to go smoothly. The first showing of London to his new person did not start out very smooth. I had gotten that horrible head cold that was going around and the day before I took two lessons and about killed myself. I kept getting dizzy and decided that there was no way I should be riding a horse. I told the buyer she was welcome to come if she wanted but I wasn’t going to ride. She was game as she had a whole trip planned to see several horses in the area. We had tacked up Areutrue and London and she decided to ride London first. I had worked with him the day before but because I was sick I had only lunged him and it was on that trip we took to the indoor. I think it had gotten him a bit unnerved because when she got on him he was in full fledge being an ass mode. There were some dramatic moves being displayed and he also picked a corner of the ring to be deathly afraid of making a huge deal of it. Kurt and I were sort of looking at each other like OMG how embarrassing. It’s like your kid throwing a temper tantrum in the grocery store and you just want to run and hide. Here is this girl on a horse that is being a complete jackass and yet she is smiling, laughing and just kicking him around telling him to grow up. She was absolutely not even phased by him a little bit. She made him get into the “evil” corner, laughed at his antics and went to work at figuring out his buttons. The more she rode the more she smiled. She loved the trot but was giddy over the canter. She couldn’t get over how nice he was for just two months of training. She rode him for quite some time and when she finished up he was in puppy dog mode just relaxed and happy. He was stretching into the bridle, swinging across his back and looking like the horse that I know he can be. She really loved Areutrue as well but I could see she was leaning towards London. She decided to come back for a second ride on London and I had been able to ride him so he was back to being a good boy. It was nice for her to see the more behaved side of him but a relief for me to know that she could handle him even when he was going to challenge her. He’s an extremely talented horse who at times is going to use his athletic ability in naughty ways so it was important for me to have a rider for him that would absolutely know how to channel his ability in the right direction. The second ride was just gorgeous and it was very obvious that he was the perfect fit for her. She is a patient rider who enjoys the process of bringing along green horses. Her plan will be to bring him along as an event horse. Her friend Amy also has a young horse that she is bringing along so they will be able to ride together. Here is London’s final video. He had come a long way in two months. I’m super excited to deliver him to his new owner on Saturday. I know she is looking forward to getting started.  I may try to take Areutrue along and fit in a xc schooling at a local course depending on weather/footing. He’s going great and is so cute over the jumps.