This message is from: "Martin Lis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> I started trail riding with my 4 years old Claire and the fjord riding really overcomes all my expectations. When I was reading fjordhorse digest in the past, I had a feeling that you guys are somehow overdoing your praise of the breed and that it looked rather like blowing your own horns. I have to admit that you are most probably right or I was exceptionally lucky with Claire. Such a pleasant riding and great personality of this horse I never experienced before. I do have two problems that I would like to solve. 1. Claire is living on the pasture with an arab-haflinger cross gelding named Kid. They love each other very much, even though Kid has a tendency of bossing her around. When I take Claire for a ride she does not want to go and to leave Kid and shows a very stubborn determination to stay with Kid. It takes a lot of my effort and strength to force her to leave. Once we are out of sight and out of hearing Kid's calling everything is just fine and she goes like a nice and lively well oiled machine. I know that it would be the best to go out with both of them but I have to ride alone and most of the time do not have anybody here who would ride Kid with us. 2. Claire is rather afraid of the water puddles and muddy spots on the forest paths and would go to great lengths to avoid it.
Otherwise she is very much reliable and can handle the scares like for example the crazy riders on mountain bikes that are riding in these hills ( local people call them "parrots" because of their outfits full of fancy colors) When such a biker suddenly appears out of the forest in front of her on a narrow path, she just starts stomping with her front feet and makes some snorting full of protest. In these situations Kid would send me flying over the tops of the trees. I will very much appreciate some advice what would be the best way to handle my two problems. Martin from Czech Republic The FjordHorse List archives can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw
