Willy is Home

Well not quite home, but he's in WA and I can go see him whenever I get the itchin to do so.

My friend Rachel took the trip with me down to OR, we left on Thursday around 10:30 and 8.5 hours later we were finally in Redmond. We had to take the long way down (avoiding all the mountain passes) as a storm had come in and it wasnt safe to attempt them. Rachel called me Thursday morning and told me she had a problem.. my heart sank as I thought she was bailing on me, but she started to say something like "well my dog Mojo..." I cut her off and told her to load up the damn dog and get her ass over to my house! LOL I already had known she is very attached to her spoiled pooch so we snuck him into our hotel room. We also snuck him into the restaurant for dinner because he was attempting to bark when we tried leaving him in the room alone.

Rachel was a GREAT choice to take to OR with me, she likes to talk and she kept me wide awake the entire drive down and back. It was an issue I was VERY afraid of, I get really drowsy on long car rides and struggle to stay awake, even when I am driving. But we just had such a great time all the way down there, laughed a lot.

I had told Rachel she was going to have to tolerate my snoring, she said it would be no problem. Well at 3:30am when I woke up, I look over and she's still wide awake!! Damn.... My snoring was out-of-control and the wind was gusting outside which was causing a loud whistle through the window and she couldnt find any cartoons to put her to sleep... I felt SO bad, she did finally fall asleep but only got maybe 2.5 hours. The drive home took 10 hours, we did go over Santium Pass, it was the only one that was bare/wet, the others had started to accumulate snow/ice. It was a REALLY crappy road.. the entire highway practically was rutted and it was either pouring or snowing so it was a long slow drive up and over. And then of course we hit Friday afternoon traffic up around Fort Lewis... I did get a bit drowsy by this time, although I got a lot more sleep than Rachel, 18 hours of driving was taking its toll.

We made it safe and sound to Sultan 8pm Friday evening. Willy was ready to get out. He loaded in the trailer just fine, but hauled Wild-Eyed the whole drive and he was nervous so I didnt interact with him much on the drive home. I knew he was in for a rude-awakening.. life was about to hit him over the head and his cushy spoiled life was officially over the minute he stepped in my trailer! :)

I just didnt realize just how spoiled he was and was a little suprised yesterday when I went out to see him, just how naughty he's been! His previous owners never ever ever pushed his buttons apparently. Unless they are very good liars, I didnt sense they feared Willy at all, but did feel they weren't the caliber of trainers they indicated they were. I could tell when I rode him that he hadnt been asked to do much except walk and trot circles in the arena. But he seemed willing to try.

Shannon has seen the worst of him come out in the past 5 days.. A little discouraging to hear these negative issues coming up about him, but she still feels he's going to be a solid trail horse for me... she just needs to get him over this hump. The horse has been babied and never asked to do anything real, so now that he is being asked to do these things, he doesnt understand what the hell happened to his old life and why he's got to do what Shannon wants and not what he wants. So he's been a big ass bully this week, but he's learning the harsh reality that his BS is not gonna fly. He will come around, I know he will... Even after he gets punished, his ears perk right back up and he's happy again.. so he's not pinning his ears and hating life, he's just testy.

I know with all certainty in me, that Shannon is the best trainer around!! :) I love that girl... she knows exactly what I want out of Willy and is heading that direction with his training. She doesnt just collect her paycheck and then take him out once a day and put 45 minutes on him, then put him back up in the barn.. She works him 2, 3, 4 times a day, just depending on how it all plays out. And I dont mean riding work, sometimes he is ponied, sometimes he just gets some ground work, other times he is left tied in his stall for hours, teaching him patience and acceptance.... Noone else would be this committed to his training or do a better job!

So although I still own a beautiful horse, apparently I have a very naughty spoiled rotten baby and he's requiring more work than I thought, but I am confident he will get where he needs to. Even though he's been a handful this week, Shannon still finds great things to say about his personality and willingness and how he rides. She says for a big bulky horse, he is very smooth and rides real nice. I am hopeful he will come around in 30 days, if not Shannon will be keeping him with her another 30.. if he knows what's good for him, he'll start behaving sooner than later! :) Willy is an investment.. not a financial one because we all know you dont make much money on these animals, but an investment into my future happiness and recreational life.. so I'll spend the money on the potential to get what I want in the end..