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Chance is now living at home. I love having him here! He gives me such a sense of peace. I love the daily care of the horses. If I'm not late in the morning Chance will give me a hug before I get his breakfast. If I'm late he can't be bothered with the mushy stuff, he's hungry! Shadow also loves having him here. Over the winter and in early spring I would put the 2 of them out in the big paddock together. They have a very nice relationship. I honestly can't tell who is the boss between them. It's like they are long lost friends who have been reunited. They are very respectful of each other and really enjoy being together. I haven't seen one pinned ear from either of them. Unfortunately now that the leaves have come out Shadow can't go out because of his diet. But they do spend lots of time next to each other at the fence. I wish I could understand what they talk about!

The hard thing about having him here is working him alone. We have been very busy with ground work, making leaps and bounds. We went to the Greg Eliel clinic and had a wonderful time. I really needed 5 days of uninterrupted horse time. I love the way Greg teaches, he is unbelievably patient, with both of us. Greg needed a horse to ride in the afternoon group for the cattle herding and asked if he could ride Chance. Of course I let him and had so much fun watching what somebody like Greg Eliel could do with my horse. Chance was so proud of himself and loved the job he was given. His face would light up when he saw the cows, what a pro! Coming from out west and seeing his reaction I am guessing he has already done this, but it was nice to see him in action.

We aren't riding very much right now. We rode alot when he first came. Went to the beach, a group trail ride and sometimes 2 trail rides a week at A's. He was pretty shut down. Who knows how much this guy has been through. He has 2 brands and from what Greg said he thinks he was a typical barn sale horse. Probably passed around alot, handled by kids, not ever properly started, kind of "flying by the seat of his pants" and hoping he did the right thing when asked to do something.

Now he is waking up. He is scared of everything. He's like a colt being exposed to everything for the 1st time. I'm glad he is not shut down anymore but I am really going to have to be on my toes and watching carefully for signs of fear in him. When he is afraid he stops, his feet get stuck and he thinks he can't move. Sometimes he even forgets I'm up there and that's when we really get in trouble. What an athletic horse! You wouldn't guess it by watching him in the paddock on a day to day basis. I think he saves it up for when he feels he really needs it. Or if he has a lot of pent up energy. The hard part is controlling my fear when I'm trying to help him with his fear. My fear has been such a consistent issue for so long now. It's getting better, sometimes I can get past it but other times it can be paralyzing. I have a good understanding of how Chance feels!

All in all we are doing great, my guess is that this guy hasn't had very much consistency and probably never the same person in his life for very long. That has changed now and within time
we will be riding everywhere!