AND WHAT ABOUT MAOBI?
I am overjoyed with my new friend. The fist two weeks or so we foillowed Erika's advice and took things extremely slowly. Pudg the groom continued to lunge him every morning. Then in the early evening I found a piece of quiet ground which I improvised as a manège, where we did some simple walking and trotting only to start with. Then we would walk slowly through the neighbourhood, where he was jumpy and nervous at first, refusing to move if he didn't understand something, like for instance a flock of sheep or a donkey and cart. The sight of a horse and carriage in the distance was enough of a potential danger for me to decide to change route.
After just one month, things have nearly reached a phase which I can call 'normal', i.e. I ride him myself in the late afternoon, we have now forgotten about the manège, instead we retrace the familiar trail where I spent so many happy times with Napoleon; we canter through the scrub land: he is fast and eager and turns on a penny, my guess is he would have made an excellent polo pony. He is so well trained that I wish I were a better rider. He knows about dressage, I think he could teach me things! What a shame we can't talk... And he wants to jump too. If I am not careful on our canters through the scrub he believes I want to jump him across a little bush, when I had no such intention...
Two days ago Pudg saddled Max and I took Maobi and together we rode like the wind to Sanouna, the Bani crossing, without any mishaps whatsoever, although we passed a horse and cart on the way back. Maobi simply danced about a bit more than usual but controlled himself- or perhaps I controlled him?
Dunia Ka Diara! (life is beautiful)