And the adventure begins

This morning I woke up to a phone call from my shipper, the wonderful Steve McRae of High Goal's Pony Express, expecting to hear the usual, "All set and on our way".  Instead I hear, "Well, there's never a dull moment in the horse world..."  

Steve was telling me about how he got to the farm bright and early, and about how Mike had called him and said his groom would be there to load the horse since Mike couldn't.  They load the horse up and Steve heads off down the road.  Steve was about 20 miles away when he received a phone call from Mike saying that his groom had given him the wrong horse.  I said WHAT? The WRONG horse??



Poor Steve had to turn around and head back to the farm to pick up my girl.  The groom brings out the correct horse and says oh well this one is crazy...  Steve had already heard about what she is from me, so without wasting a second said, "Give me the horse".  He led her over to the trailer, and let her sniff it.  Within a minute the horse had the first foot on the ramp, and in under two minutes the horse was loaded.  What could have been a disastrous experience for my young and green horse was handled brilliantly by a man I have not yet met.

All too many times I have seen people take a strong hand to young or green horses, while expecting them to have the same amount of knowledge as an older more experienced horse.  It is so crucial for a horse's first experiences with shipping to be positive, especially if you plan to show the horse even on a semi regular basis.  Been a calm shipper is as much a part of being a solid citizen as cross tying and bathing.  

Anyway, I'm off to the barn to ride the pony, I'll be back to work out.  We have recruitment practice for my sorority (recruitment starts bright and early on Wednesday) and then I'll be back out to the barn with a few pizzas to wait for my new girl!