On January 1st, Odin and I went on our first off-property outing and went for a trail ride with an experienced friend on a very mellow horse. When I unloaded Odin from the trailer, he looked around at the other horses on the property and seemed satisfied, maybe hopeful that this was his final destination. He stood tied to the trailer while I tacked him up and without any warm up I got on, followed my friend and off we went into the forest. What I like best about this horse is that he feeds off the emotions of horses and people around him. If it's no big deal to anyone, he doesn't make it a big deal. Beege, my OTTB, ignores calm emotions and stirs himself up over nothing. He's convinced that he's the only one who has seen a monster and wants to make sure that we all see it too.
We rode winding paths through the forest to a big clearing then to the main trail parking lot. There were dogs and horses and people and trailers. Odin snorted at the dogs and my friend warned the owners that we weren't sure how he would react to dogs and wouldn't want to find out by him kicking or striking. He did neither but still isn't sure about dogs yet. The trail took us out to a road with people and leashed dogs and even a car. Odin followed the example of the horse in front, a one-eyed horse I might add, and calmly walked to the other set of trails.
Steering is still an issue with Odin and he decided to avoid a giant mud puddle while I was gabbing away, not paying attention. My knee came in contact with a tree and then suddenly I was paying attention to steering. Nothing terrible happened except a huge ugly bruise on my knee and deeply wounded ego. Then his lead rope unraveled from the saddle horn and followed us for a while but he didn't seem to mind that at all.
All told we were out for about 1.5 hours, decided that was enough for a first outing. Getting back in the trailer was a bit of an issue since Odin was convinced that this was his new home with these cool horses nearby. I got him back in the trailer — it wasn't pretty and wasn't exactly the way I wanted it to go but I allowed myself the mistakes, knowing Odin would forgive me and get in again when I got the procedure right.
Back at the barn, he seemed surprised that's where the journey ended but he seemed to understand the point of trailering. We practiced getting in and out a couple times then I let him go back to his pasture where he immediately rolled, seemingly "washing off" the day and getting on with his life.
I took him out for another practice run a week later, hand-walked him on the same trails since I didn't have a companion that time, then took him back to the barn. He took it in stride and my coach was there to witness the unloading. She complimented us on our technique and patience, said she was happy to have been able to witness our success.
Earlier this week I moved Odin from the boarding stable to pasture board where Beege lives. Odin was nervous about being in a new place but trusted me to go into a strange barn, through the dark stall path to his paddock. Beege and Canyon (Kiger Mustang) were in other paddocks. I gave him hay, let him settle and eat while I unloaded the rest of his stuff and got organized. He seemed like he was going to be okay even if a little lost, concerned, uncertain.
Later that evening, during feeding time the horses are brought up to the barn and separated into much smaller spaces. Unfortunately Beege lunged and snapped and turned his butt to Odin everytime Odin attempted to eat his own pile of hay. The property owner was concerned that Beege would tear down the fence between them so she moved Odin to a larger space where he could eat in peace.
The next couple afternoons I worked with Odin, introducing him to the barn, asking him to walk in and out of it numerous times, letting him experience the dogs in person, introducing him to the arena, then walked him up the gravel pathway to Beege's paddock. I put myself between Odin and Beege's fence. Beege followed along the fenceline, licking and chewing, behaving himself. We arrived at Canyon's paddock, hoping Canyon would be interested enough to come closer but he wasn't. I think those two will get along just fine eventually, probably mutually ignoring each other. Beege will likely eventually come around too but it will take time and we have time.
Odin started following me around, even into the places that make him uncomfortable. We will practice that today and go for another trail ride tomorrow with friends.