My friend Marci comes out and rides Bodhi sometimes. She will be looking in on him while I am gone in Africa which makes me feel better. Here is a lovely photo she took of him. This also captures the snow we had in mid April!
I have discovered that my horse is very opinionated. I have now had several people try Bodhi for partial boarding and it is very obvious who he prefers and who he does not. He always tries a bit of sass with any new person much to my dismay. He pretends he does not know a few things and tries to convince them that "actually riding is just standing in the middle of the ring!" He also likes to proudly show them things they did not ask for. "Look at what I can do!" He then settles right down when the person is not impressed...
But some people he just shuts down and completely disrespects. In some respects I am not happy he is ever disrespectful. I thought I raised him better! On the other hand it is interesting to see what he will just not stand for. It is neat to see the individual even though sometimes it is a bit embarrassing.
I love him. Any horse with the intelligence to outsmart potential riders is a plus in my book. It means they really know how to take care of themselves. There's nothing like an opinionated horse with lots of personality. You don't have to worry about him while you're in Africa, that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteI hear what you're saying but I think it's great that Bodhi is helping you screen candidates! If he were super obedient it would be much more difficult to tell if the match would be a good one.
ReplyDeleteGolden, I LOVE that picture of Bodhi. It's great that your friend will be looking in on him while you are gone. WRT the potential partial-boarders, I think he knows what you have planned for him and he's making his displeasure known. :-) Enjoy your long weekend.
ReplyDeleteGreat picture!
ReplyDeleteI think it's a good thing he's so opinionated, he's weeding out the bad ones for you :)
I wish you were still in the 'ville... I definitely would have ridden Bodhi for you.
ReplyDeleteSounds like my girl Camryn. She'll slowly circle closer & closer to the low branches of our magnolia. She likse to see if her rider is "aware", if not they get to do a backbend. If I like the person they are warned, if their an inlaw (evil snicker) I don't say a thing.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter leaves for Africa next Fri.
Don't you wonder what it is that Bodhi recognizes in people to make him react differently?
ReplyDeleteI've seen that in a few horses myself. I had a hard time selling my last horse - she wouldn't put up with sloppy riders. I heard of another horse that dropped his shoulder at jumps and dumped every potential buyer.
Glad you have someone to look after him while you are gone.