Following months of preparation, we can officially say that Harissa is a riding horse!
When we first met Harissa, we weren’t convinced she wouldn’t go for the jugular. She had a poor understanding of pressure, and could be quite dangerous to be around. We had moments of questioning if she would ‘make it.’ But, as we’ve learned, sometimes good things take time. This mare has made quite the 180 since she first arrived at SAFE, and thanks to a lot of hard work and dedication, is now going under saddle.
She recently received her first rides with our good friend Dani, and over the course of several days, made great forward progress — literally! At first she needed a little encouragement to move out with the help of a friend with a flag on the ground, but each day as she gained understanding of her rider’s seat and legs, she required less and less assistance from the person on the ground. She is an intelligent horse with a lot of try, and it has been tremendously special to witness her transformation.
Following her first rides, Harissa went off to training with Dani for 30 days. We are excited to continue working with this cool mare and see her become the horse we hoped she could be!
