Starfish Latte Returns

Got a call from our horse trainer last night…she says Starfish is ready to come home.  She said the reason Starfish was tossing her head and not wanting to stop when asked is because she was used to bullying the “green” riders.   I get that – I mean, she did come from a dude ranch where she was a string horse [well, usually the lead horse in the line] so it makes sense she’d feel like she had to be in charge of her rider.

The trainer is going to deliver Starfish tonight and show me what type of bit she used to settle Ms. Latte down.  I’ll work with it and then transition over to the bitless bridle during the next few weeks.

An example of the Bitless Bridle

Sheesh.  Did I tell you that we got Dr. Cook’s Bitless Bridles for our horses?  Cripes I should get better at updating.  Ok, so I bought Bill a chestnut color headstall and new reins for Shortfuse and Kessie while I picked up a black set for Starfish and Oolong.  Traveller gets to ride in his halter still because he’s old and doesn’t misbehave or spook [plus, he's got such a huge head I would have had to buy a draft horse size headstall].  Sundance is still recovering, so she doesn’t need anything yet [well, if you ask her, she'll tell you she needs double rations of grain because she's such a petite thing. *rolls eyes*].

Bill says Kessie’s not too crazy about the new bitless bridle and that she doesn’t respond to the pressure.  I dunno.  I took her out last weekend with it [bareback] and she seemed to be fine.  Of course, I was in the small pen and she wasn’t really in the mood to do anything other than a slow walk.  We practiced turning so she could get used to the feel of the bridle and she seemed to be responding just fine.  Maybe Bill will have to give it another chance.

On a side note – I got Oolong on June 14, 2008, so I’ve had her a full year now!  I got her for my birthday last year and still adore her as much as when I first laid eyes on her.  She gave me birthday kisses yesterday – but I have to say, I like receiving birthday kisses from Bill much better!