Stay Cool Wilbur

More often than not Wilbur is happy to accept his treats and promptly wander off to hang with friends and graze. Saturday I found him staying cool in the shelter and when he spotted me, walked right up to the gate. I grabbed his halter and decided today was a good day for a walk around the farm.

Poor Wilbur ends up getting very little of my time. I check on him at least once on the weekend, usually twice, before heading over to ride Ellie. He's such a "people" horse I know he does enjoy the visits- however short they might be. One of the trainers is lined up to start working with him in April which makes me happy- I'm looking forward to getting him back under saddle. Paul is going to start stopping out after work maybe once a week or every other on his way home. Plus there's a gal who comes after school and does odd jobs so I may pay her to groom/ hand walk him here and there. Big plans in store for this guy- he's not going to know what hit him!

But back to our Saturday walk. Short and sweet. My newfound confidence with Ellie has translated to Wilbur as well. While he doesn't bolt, buck, or rear- when something startles him, like a random girl walking out of a barn for example, he gets this really worried look on his face and then jumps a little on all fours and plants his feet, snorting like a freight train to boot. It's challenging to not have some level of anxiety when clearly your horse is anxious about all the things.
Saturday I said, "just keep on walking buddy."
And he was fine and I was fine and we had a fun time!