My horse now has become a lesson horse. Actually, a horse to teach a lady almost everything there is to know about taking care of a horse and riding.
Sally emailed me saying she was interested in leasing our horse. Her background was helping at We Can Ride. We Can Ride is a riding program for people with physical and mental disabilities. We exchanged emails and then she called me. We set up a time for her to come to the stables to meet me and Dinah.
Sally did not know how to ride at all, or tack the horse up or even how to groom. That was a shock to me. I had assumed that by volunteering at this place, she at least knew how to groom the horse and maybe put the saddle and bit on. But nothing. I wanted her to have a lesson with our trainer, and that ended with our trainer saying that in order to lease this horse, Sally would need to take lessons until our trainer was comfortable.
Now started this journey of Sally and Dinah. For four months, Sally and Dee had weekly and some times twice a week lessons. Sally would also come out one evening a week to bond some more with Dinah and gain experience with caring for her. At the end of the four months, Dee said that Sally was ready to lease Dinah and ride on her own; with weekly or bi-weekly lessons still in the lease.
Sally is an interesting lady. She is in her fifties with a husband but no children. She has a full-time job that she had told me she was going to be retiring from soon. Sally in a very sensitive lady and also very emotional. She lacks self-confidence and back bone. The lessons went good and the beginning of the lease did. As time went on, we had problems. Dee did also. If Sally was doing things that she thought was best for the horse, and not what we told her to do, she would get very emotional. I found that either I had to word it a certain way or just say nothing. Sally would also let Dinah be in control. For example: when Sally would cue Dinah to stop, Dinah would keep walking. Some of these problems were even on the ground.
Our family is planning on selling our current house and buy some land. I told that to Sally. She said she wanted to still come and lease Dinah. I brought up the idea of that by that time, Sally should get her own horse. This got ball rolling in Sally's head of looking for one.
Sally was looking at different websites for horses for sale. She stumbled upon one that was in her price range and really liked. Sally drive almost two hours to go see this horse. She feel in love with it. She went back again with a friend from We Can Ride. Her heart was taken with this horse.
During this whole time of leasing Sally has told me how riding, and even just grooming Dinah brings such peace to her. It allows her to go to work each day and also to go home to her husband. Her husband and her have not been in good terms for a few years. Spending time with Dinah brought her joy and happiness. Everything else seemed to disappear and everyone around her could tell.
Next post will be about my helping Sally find her first horse and making sure this one was right. Yet Sally didn't want to do any of it.
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