One of the best things about our new place is the mounted archery lane. It’s long and sandy and has shade for 90% of the day and it’s just awesome.

We’ve started training most of the archery horses in earnest, including Griffy and Talos:

They’ve both been down to the lane and walked around a bit, but they’re not even close to being comfortable with it.

Today we had a group practice, which includes leading the horses down the lane while someone shoots in front of, and then next to them.

Talos still has a lot of anxiety at the new place. He’s good in his pasture, the grooming area, and the round pen, but the rest of it is still pretty scary. He does really well in a group, and we have to start somewhere, so today we led him down the lane along with two other mares – Filene and Webb. This was a little tough for him because neither was particularly interested in his friendly overtures, but he soon learned to keep his distance.

We walked over to the little trail leading to the lane and he was all dragon snorts. I told him good boy a lot. We made it down there, and got everyone lined up. He was a ball of anxiety, but trying his level best to be brave.

If I’m being honest, I’ve always struggled with him a bit. He’s *so* big. He’s….I hesitate to call him spooky, he’s startly? He will jump at things, but he doesn’t have big dramatic spooks. But man, it scared me at first. And by “at first” I mean “for the last year.”

Last week, we were walking past some of the obstacles we have set up, and I was encouraging him to investigate as he saw fit. We got to the mailbox, and he bravely reached out to boop it with his nose….

and the door popped open.

Hoo boy, he jumped about a mile in the air! I swear I saw him capriole.

And totally justified, honestly I jumped too. But I realized that his reactions are not excessive or unmanageable. He just needs to be reassured and encouraged, and then he’s usually ok.

So. We can do this.

It was our turn to walk down the lane. C. was going to walk and shoot with us.

“Do you want me to lead him, or do you want me shoot?” she asked.

As soon as she said that, Talos’ head went up, his ears shot forward, and he made intense eye contact with me. I felt like he was saying “Please stay with me.” I let out a big exhale.

“I”ll lead him, ” I said.

He didn’t really care about the arrows, he was definitely just scared being in a new area. The first pass down the lane, he was trying to rush to get to the other horses and I was having a hard time holding him back. My right shoulder is gonna be sore tomorrow!

The second pass, he walked slower and seemed calmer, although he definitely cast some longing glances when we passed the trail to home.

The third pass, he was watching C. shoot with some interest and not really so amped up.

I don’t think he’s ready to be ridden down there, and I was super thankful to just be on the ground with him, but it went really well. I felt like I turned a corner – I didn’t realize how afraid I was of handling him before, but I wasn’t as scared this time.

They say it takes at least a year for you & your horse to fully bond. It’s been just over a year for us and I feel like we’ve definitely leveled up.