It hasn't been flawless, she has spooked a lot and she tried to run with me once. Somehow I found a zen place to stay calm in those moments,even the ground poles were conquered, at a walk at least, tonight.
While riding a friend asked if Whisper would do okay if she brought her pony in to ride for a little while, I got off Whisper to work her from the ground in case it went badly.
On the first full lap with the pony in the ring, Whisper was a mess. Surging, pulling me like I wasn't there, and vocalizing this seriously screwed up half whinny half whine I've never heard before. She kept trying to call to the pony and was oblivious to me. Then she took a leap before she hit the end of the reins, once she did she reared. Only that wasn't enough of a tension release so when she went into the rear she also started to buck, then couldn't extend her back legs to kick. The result was all 4 feet off the ground at the exact same time while her topline was completely straight and parallel to the ground.
If it wasn't as a result of bad behavior, I would have applauded. Seriously. It took all I had not to high-five the pony's rider and say "cool!" a lot.
The arena had been used all day, jumped in, cantered on, etc. You can see what usual heavy horse traffic does looking across. These four pits are what happened when Whisper's four feet regained contact with Earth.
Whisper collected easy enough after that, within ten minutes being nonchalant about following the pony or when the pony was cantering. Whatever she did released the pent-up stuff and she was fine.
When the pony left the ring, I rode another 20 minutes to be sure that we were still good. She took off once more, not the super-cool-horse-leap, just a spook run, and I brought her back down. My comfort level was as high as it gets, still being aware of who she is and what she needs right now. It was hard not to ask for more and just end it there.
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