It has been more than two months since Arro was born. As you can see on the picture he is full of life and energy. When his mom is working his favorite activities are grazing or running around. And when he wants to run he runs!!!!! It is hard to watch him without worrying as he leaps over tall grass, cavalletty, small bushes without even slowing down. Little grasshopper should be his nickname :)

I work Regala, Arro's mom, four times a week. She is now working under saddle - walk, trot, canter. She and Arro have settled very well into routine. Regala stays focused and doesn't worry about him and he simply grazes near the ring without bothering her. By now he doesn't even need to drink the milk while she is working. I am quite impressed with her attitude as baby can be quite a distraction for a 4-year-old that has been under saddle for 5 months total. We started going on short trail rides and she listens and stays calm even in situations when her son starts squealing and running around like crazy. It happens in the beginning when we are leaving. Arro is not sure he wants to leave Santo behind :) These two became quite the friends. I call Santo - the Uncle. He worries about Arro more than his mom and Arro sometimes lingers behind when we are heading into the forest. We are riding a loop that takes about 30 minutes to complete in walk. It goes through jack pine forest, hay field, down into ravine and back up into jack pine forest again. Regala behaves like a seasoned trail riding horse, nothing worries her, she steps over logs of different sizes, goes through low branches, she is fine with deer. I am so pleased with her.

Because I work the mare it is very easy to work with the foal at the same time. Arro comes into the barn and stands quietly by her side, happy to be away from flies :). He gets groomed, his feet picked up. I halter him and lead him out and in the barn again. He still needs a bum rope for leading away from his mom. However, he listens and doesn't object to it. He wears the halter during the time his mom works. I trimmed his feet twice already. He amazed me with his tolerance. Even though I couldn't do very good job first time and had to trim again in two weeks there was no panic, he just didn't stand quietly long enough :) Second time he was so much better. I also regularly hug Arro around the base of the neck, around the girth area. I groom his right side while standing on his left and wise versa so I lean over him a bit. I put things on his back like towels, saddle pads, etc. I tie him up for couple minutes while I groom Regala. I wait until he stops fidgeting and stands quietly and then I release him.
It doesn't require that much time to work/play with him, it blends smoothly into getting Regala ready to be ridden. However, Arro now is so familiar with the routine it will not be a big deal for him when his time comes to start learning how to be a riding horse.

I will keep updating you on Arro's life every two months. Next blog will be in September.

Happy riding...