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I was offered an opportunity to move Kai as the stable had a vacancy for three weeks. (A new horse will be arriving on February 1st.) This would accomplish a couple of things: 1) It would allow me to ride at night and during bad weather and 2) It would allow me to see how Kai would react to all of the hustle and bustle that goes on in a show barn. This would tell me whether it was safe to take Kai on a trail ride or other organized equestrian outing.
Of course, during the winter, most mares don't come into heat, and during the summer (when most equestrian outings are scheduled) they do, so it might not be safe in the summer even if it is in the winter!
Kai has been behaving very well at the new stable, though he did make eyes at a bay mare while standing cross-tied in the aisle! My friend Cheryl told me that the bay mare doesn't like black stallions, as she was kicked by one once, but it sure looked to me as if she thought Kai was handsome!
The first time I rode him in the indoor ring, he seemed very tense (which is very unlike him.) This may have been due to the fact that the rest of the horses were being fed during the time I was riding!(Of course, Kai was able to hear this activity going on while we were riding!) Kai was very well-behaved, though.
Derek was very cute! The first time I rode Kai in the arena, Derek decided that he wanted a turn. He insisted on putting on a helmet and stood outside the arena, watching us, reminding me often that he wanted his turn! When I did finally dismount, Derek gleefully trotted towards me, babbling happily about his turn. Then, Kai whinnied. This is something that horses do routinely. Kai was just talking to his buddies. But Derek's face grew instantly clouded, and tears streamed down his cheeks. "It's so loud!" he cried. I had to take him in my arms and explain to him that horsies, like trains, are big and sometimes make loud sounds. He decided he didn't want to ride that day!