Secret Settles In

Secret walked off the trailer and into her new stall/home at RK Farm with the ease of a horse much older and wiser than she was.
When I first visited RK Farm in 2016 and its owner, Robyne, I knew that this would be the place that my horses called home, even before I saw the barn.
Entering through a gate and driving along a shady tree lined drive, before you round the final curve and glimpse the barn, there is a certain calm and peace that seems to transcend everyone who enters the property.
The farm is an oasis in a fast disappearing landscape of Central Florida. Sitting on 40 acres (how rare!!), it is surrounded on two sides by housing developments and on two sides by farmland. Because you have to enter it through a neighborhood, nobody would ever guess that it existed. There are boarders who have been here for 10, 15 even 20 years, which is a testament to the quality of care that Robyne provides. There is no need to advertise...word of a rare opening (usually by death or an out of state move) is heard through the grapevine. I found out through Bob Stockman, owner of Stockman's Harness Shop in Orlando. He doesn't recommend many places. I did have to chew out my farrier, who makes regular appearances at the barn. I told him that I could not believe that he never told me about it. He mumbled some lame excuse and apologized.
This calm and peace is extended to all animals that enter. Outside horses are more than welcome to come share in the facilities offerings and it is rare that even a visiting horse is not calm.
Having just turned 3, Secret was the youngest horse. Most of the horses, many of whom have boarded most of their lives at RK, are in their 20's. Lark, who passed away last fall, was the grand dame at 33 and had spent most of her life at RK. Harley, owned by dressage judge Tina Drake, is now the old man of the barn, at 30 years.
Secret walked into her stall with ease and immediately put her head down to munch hay and occasionally look out her window. As soon as the rain let up, I led her out to a field, where Tucker, her stall mate, had already been turned out. There was no screaming, no kicking. Some playful cantering followed by mutual grooming and then heads down, side by side, to graze. No drama! Thank goodness!!
Secret proceeded to win the hearts of everyone with her exceptional manners. There is no bad behavior, even when the other horses are being silly, whether from a cool breeze or impatience at waiting to come in from turnout at lunch time. Even if she has been galloping the field, as soon as she sees you at the gate, she comes and stands quietly while haltered and proceeds to walk in with not a care in the world, just as calm and mature as a much more seasoned horse. Kudo's to Stephanie and her staff for instilling such wonderful ground manners!

I had this new horse....now what????
It was apparent to me that all my time with Tucker had spoiled me. I adopted him at the age of 6 months, and while he was wild and untouchable for the first 2 months, once I was able to halter break him, the rest of his life with me was pretty easy. He accepted everything with no questions. Now I was back to owning an OTTB...while very level headed, I found that I was very protective of her and thought that she would break! I was afraid to really challenge or push her for fear of hurting her. I asked myself if it was because she was a mare, because she had so much potential or for some other reason that I could not define? I tended to treat Impulsive, my oldest daughter's TB mare the same way. Not so much for Dolly, another mare we owned that belonged to my youngest daughter.
I had resolved that I was not in any hurry to get on Secret, and that the plan was to bond and work with her on the ground. Because she had just turned 3 in April and was so big (and growing), I was in no hurry to push her mind or body. It had been many years since I had done ground work with a baby, so I decided to enlist the sister of our vet, Kirsten Nelsen, who had recently moved to the area and had impressed us all with a clinic we held at the barn.
Kirsten (www.kirstennelsen.com) specializes in bio-mechanics and balance of horse and rider. She has studied under Jean Luc Cornille, Dr. Gavin Skofield, Ray Hunt, Tom Dorrance and Pat Parelli.
She showed me how best to work Secret, who was very unbalanced, from the ground, utilizing both lunging and hand walking on the lunge line. I will save that information for another blog.
The long, hot Florida summer was spent bonding and learning...both Secret and I learned much about each other and ground work. Summer finally gave way to fall and we continued the ground work, as well as long walks and trots alongside the golf cart. As time passed, I became more secure and less reactive if she reacted to something new (temper tantrums were usually on the lunge line, as she learned to balance herself.) We practiced walking over tarps and jumps, and I bought an assortment of toys from the Dollar Store which to torture her with...blow up pink flamingos, flappers and more, all of which she took in stride, probably wondering what the hell was I doing to her? Her sire's reputation of being brave and smart had obviously been extended to her.
There were comments from time to time from people, questioning why I had not yet mounted Secret. I made no apologies. I am in no hurry and that day would come. But in the meantime, I was enjoying the journey and learning so much!