It was the one year anniversary of Long Meadow Farm where I board, and Erika (the only other boarder) and I were stumped about what to get Heidi (the barn owner) as a gift. She has two fabulous horses, a tack room of exquisite equipment and the most beautiful barn ever built. It was Erika that finally came up with the perfect idea—one of those giant indestructible balls for the herd to play with! Soon a 40” red and black ball designed like a giant soccer ball became a part of the eclectic assortment of horse training tools that live behind the half wall in our indoor arena.
Rather than toss it out in the paddock and risk the horses being so scared of it they slammed each other into the fences, we carefully planned to introduce each horse to the ball in the safety of the indoor arena under direct supervision. And what better way to encounter a new scary object than with a pal? So we incorporated the buddy system. Erika’s Thoroughbred “Jag” and my Trakehner “Newman” were first. Read the rest of this entry »
