Darla is a pleasure to get to know and very rewarding to work with so far. She has a huge heart and a ton of try. She was very shy and afraid coming into SAFE. Now after just a few weeks, she is more comfortable with haltering and has been walking nicely into the arena for her groundwork sessions. As her feet are getting freed up and her weight distributed onto her hinds, her expression softens and she is not in a panic. The volunteers have also noticed the changes in her while cleaning her paddock. She is no longer standing “on point” with her head high and eye intense on everyone or any noises around her. She is truly “letting down” and finding peace and relaxation in her life here at SAFE.
This week, after a fair amount of preparation, we were able to have Joel Conner’s help saddling her. She accepted the saddle very well and was not panicked when wearing it around the round pen. We hope to continue to prepare her for a rider and put the first rides her at SAFE on during Joel’s visit next month.
Darla has been wormed and seen our farrier, however she was only comfortable having her fronts trimmed at that time. She will be vaccinated in the coming weeks and scheduled for a dental before we put a snaffle in her mouth.
