October, 2008
Playing With The Kids!

Here are some images of Eddie, an 8 year old with Down's Syndrome. This was Eddie's first up close and personal encounter with a horse. Sir Gawaine wanted to be very close to Eddie. As seen in the images, Sir Gawaine didn't take his eyes off Eddie, even when Eddie was hesitant about getting too close.

The other boy riding Sir G. is Eddie's younger brother Eli. Eli didn't hesitate at all to get on Sir Gawaine and as you can see, Sir G didn't mind at all.

As usual, we will continue to post updates until such a time as our wonderful Sir Gawaine is placed in his therapy position.

Robin Clark
Grin Ranch
Chardon Ohio
AGHBA - Secretary
 

September, 2008
Riding Sir Gawaine!

Sir Gawaine is progressing quite well with riding as seen in these most recent images. He moves to the bit nicely and seems to grasp the changing of leads without hesitation. We are very pleased with his progress although the feelings are bittersweet as we approach the time when he will be placed in his therapy program.

On July 6th, 2008 Sir Gawaine had his first rider on his back. As you can see in the pictures, he did very well and it was all within a 20 minute period.

The first step in the stirrup was a little scary for him but he recovered quickly and didn’t balk from that point on. I had been putting my weight in the stirrup all along in his training but it seemed different enough to him that he just had to jump a little.

We walked around with my rider, Erin, laying over him for about 5 minutes. Then we stopped, had her dismount, remount within minutes and do it again. We did this for 3-4 times with Erin just getting a little further into the saddle each time. By the 5th time, Erin mounted completely into the saddle and off we went to walk the arena.

Sir G didn’t even hesitate to walk out when asked. He high stepped for the first few moments until he got his balance and then the head dropped and he just let me lead him around. What a great first experience.

Erin is getting back on him this entire week and then she will be out of town for a week but as we all know, our gypsies don’t forget and learn very quickly. I am sure that when she returns we will pick up where we left off.

We should have him walking without me leading within the next 3 weeks. Erin is a very experienced rider and horse owner. She is attending equine management college and she is very comfortable with the process of beginning a young horse. And she is very excited to be up close and personal with a gypsy horse. She is aware of them but hadn’t had an opportunity to see one in real life. She has a very gentle hand and I am glad to have her help me with this phase of Sir Gawaine’s training.

Once we have this part down, he will be as well rounded as possible for his placement. Of course there will always be things for him to learn, but I feel confident that he will place with enough knowledge to get a good start at a facility.

As always, I will try to keep everyone posted on his progress.

Robin Clark
Grin Ranch
Chardon, OH