Kasey's first horse

When we moved up here, we promised Kasey that we would get her a horse. It has taken a while to find the right one for her, at the right money, and at the right time for us to have the money as well. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago on the local notice board, I saw a little filly for sale who sounded perfect. I rang about her and went out to see her. "Magic" is the right height for Kasey, about 13 hands high, 5 years old, Quarter horse x whaler, broken in and pretty quiet. I went all over her, touched her everywhere, tugged on her tail, touched her teats, picked up her feet etc, and she took it all in her stride. The guy rode her around and she didn't have any desire to take off or do anything silly, so I decided she would be pretty good for Kasey's first horse. She had only been on a float twice in her life, but she went on really easy when we picked her up. She has taken to kicking out though, and she booted poor Kasey right on the side of her knee, she screamed, as you would, and has a nice bruise to show for it. She is obviously still quite unsure of her surroundings here, so I am putting a little of it down to that, and my horse Ziggy has been giving her a bit of a hard time as well, so she is a little nervous, but I am currently working on teaching her that kicking is not the done thing. Other than this little bit of an issue, she is a nice little horse though.

I have said to Kasey that to be around horses, you really do have to become pretty tough, and unfortunately the odd kick, or foot getting stood on, or falling off is all part of the process. You learn to become really aware of what your horse is doing and the tell tale signs, you learn to wear proper boots, and you learn to stay on pretty quickly! Kasey is not allowed to be around her horse unless she is wearing her boots, and she is not allowed to ride without both boots and her helmet. Kasey is still quite uneasy at the moment. I am going to sign her up for a 1 week horse camp over the next school holidays, so she can learn a few more skills and make new friends as well. Kasey had her first riding lesson today, I started her off down in the yards on a lead line, and at the end of the lesson, I let her ride up to the shed with me walking behind her. All went well until Ziggy decided to go a bit silly, and Magic got a bit worked up, but she didn't do anything other than become a bit quick. Kasey got a bit scared, so I walked her a bit, and then she got off, so next time Ziggy will be tied up and we will go out of earshot.