Kona has become the super all around horse! Once we figured out that riding her in the Tom Thumb pelham was a good thing, she's become Miss Congeniality. That plus some acupuncture and massage, and a lot of variety in her work (some jumping, trail, a bit of dressage) and not drilling her every day in dressage (like I did for 5 years!) has brought out her happy side. No more Grouchy Mare. I rode her with Ellen back in May, and we started canter pirouettes! I have video that I will add soon.
I'm not sure what to make of this new Kona! But she always asserts her opinions about things, as you'll see from these photos.
This week my niece, Sophie, who is 11, came to visit and rode Kona. I didn't have to worry at all about Sophie's safety on Kona. She did 2 days in the arena, on the lunge line, and did very well at walk, trot, and halting. And Sophie was super with grooming, picking out feet, leading the horses, and even learned to flick the rope at the horse to get her to back up! On the 3rd day we went out on an hour long trail ride with Sarah B. and Roxy. Kona was super good, except when she did the shetland pony thing and dove down for grass....
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