We are so happy to see the progress that Jollie has made in training. She is growing up very well and while still has a lot to learn, she is receiving an excellent foundation. One of the hard decisions SAFE has had to think about is that even through Jollie is now considered a riding horse, she still is not suitable for many of our adopters. The first months of riding and even the first year can be a very important part of their future. Green horses can become confused or frustrated which unfortunately can lead to poor behavior and issues that follow them for years. Generally SAFE gets horses that have troubles due to issues they had with humans who were handling them or riding them. The wonderful thing about Jollie was she was practically a blank slate when she came to us. Everything is new, so if her education is provided correctly and patiently, she should continue to be well behaved and untroubled.
We began to show Jollie once she had received 30 days of riding to potential adopters. Unfortunately we immediately could see that she was not far enough along in to understand new riders. Some of the things being asked of her began to frustrate her. While she handled the new riders okay, within a few more rides it would have turned into a bad situation for both Jollie and the potential adopters. By no fault of the riders or the young mare, it was evident she was not ready to move home with a new family.
SAFE had made the decision to give her another 30 days of training and then bring her back to SAFE to be ridden and shown with adopters on a case by case basis after that.
