[ShadyBro]

 Owner       >>>  Firedancer77
 Name                >>> Scarlet
 Gender         >>> Female
 Adoption Price         >>> 1 WL Rare
 Training         >>> [Fully Trained]
  =====
  . Spunky
  . Dare devil
  . Tom boyish
  . Dislikes humans

 Offspring;
 None

 [Discipline >>>>> ]
 [Shows Entered > R: W: E:]
 [Shows Won >>>> R: W: E:]

 [Ej > ] [Ep > ]
 [Eh > ] [Ws > ]
 [Wp > ] [Wt > ]
 [Rf > ] [Rs > ]

Story: Upon loading this girl up I found her to be extreamly aggressive towards us, however she also seemed protective and kind toward other neras, so we decided she was probably just fearful of humans. It takes a lot of patience and gentle coaxing to get to do anything, so you will need to work on getting her to trust you before you do anything else. She seemed to be in pretty good spirits despite the situation, and we can only assume that she was fairly new to the property.

[Firedancer77]

Her name is Scarlet.

[Firedancer77]

I stand at the corral, admiring the beautiful mare as she walks around inside it. She's definitely seeming to adjust, as I stayed away for awhile to give her space. However, when she catches sight of me, she retreats to the other side of the corral to get away from me. I keep myself from sighing, leaning against the fence as she broods on the other side. This doesn't seem to be helping me at all. Staying where I am, I watch her and she watches me for awhile as I contemplate my options. Maybe tomorrow I should try introducing her to Native. I can't introduce her to Cookie, as Cookie would bite me before daring to let me anywhere near her. I could also probably try Bramble or Dusty, but Native seems like my best shot so far. Hopefully they'll get along.

I lead Native over to the corral, and she lets out a shriek. Scarlet glances up at the noise, and let's out a shriek in response, warily trotting over. She stops about two feet from the fence, eyeing me up. I tie Native's reigns to the corral, and then step back, allowing them to have some space. From there, I watch them "talk" and hope that maybe letting Scarlet bond with Native will help me gain Scarlet's trust.

After a few days of bringing Native over to Scarlet's corral, I decide to stand with Native this time. Scarlet warily comes over, as aggressive as ever. However, I pet Native calmly, watching Scarlet for a reaction. Scarlet seems almost surprised to see me doing this, but I continue to do so as Native and her seem to "talk" again. I think I'm making progress.

After awhile of coming and interacting with Native, I decide to try something bold this time. Scarlet hasn't been afraid to come over recently, so as she stands and watches me pet Native. After petting Native for awhile and listening to them talk, I slowly inch my hand towards Scarlet. Maybe I can touch her this time? Right as I'm about to make contact though, she moves her neck away, and I could swear she's laughing at me. I'll have to try again.

Throughout that time, I make about three more attempts to touch her. Every time I manage to make it a bit closer before Scarlet moves away. I know she's taunting me with the fact that I wasn't able to do it. I'll just have try again next time.

This time, I manage to do it. I manage to pet Scarlet. At first, she shies away from it, but after a second attempt I manage to successfully pet her. Now to do it without Native around her.

[Firedancer77]

After a few more days of petting Scarlet with Native around, I decide to go for it and see what she does if I don't bring Native with me. So, I head up to the corral, and sit on the fence.

"Hey, Scarlet." I give her a smile as she slowly trots over, looking a bit confused. She stands there for a moment, as if unsure what to make of me sitting there without her friend, Native.

After a moment of standing there, she comes closer. She's just out of my reach at this point, and I decide to wait and let her come closer. I'm not going to force her to do anything. I'd like her to trust me completely, and to do so I can't make her let me touch her. After some painfully slow minutes of staring at each other, I extend a hand. She takes a step back, stares at it for a moment, and then takes a step forward, nuzzling me.

A grin takes my face. "There's a good girl."

Inside, I'm cheering and screaming and jumping. Of course, I don't want to overwhelm her, so I bundle up those feelings of joy and instead just grin even bigger. I probably look like a total idiot, but I don't care. I'm too happy that Scarlet finally trusts me, although getting past the touch stage will take some time. I'm willing to wait though.

[Firedancer77]

After letting the other Nera's out into the pasture - besides Cookie, who's as aggressive as ever - I let Native move around a bit before saddling her up. I've been at the touch stage with Scarlet for awhile now, and I've decided to try and get one on Scarlet. I'm hoping that seeing Native all saddled up will convince her that it's not scary to have a saddle on, but I can only hope. We'll have to see how it goes.

Having the saddle with me, I rode over on Native to Scarlet's corral. She had trotted over to the fence when she saw as approaching, and watched me expectantly. I slide off, and give her sparrow meat. She lets out a short, happy scream, and then I hold out the saddle.

She tilts her head at it, as if confused by what it is. She seems to be examining it, but as I step closer, she steps away. I give her more sparrow meat, and then creep around and begin to slide the saddle on. She knows right away that I'm putting it on her though, and begins to try and get away.

"Scarlet!" I call as she begins to trot away, the saddle half on and half off. "Come back here!"

She makes me chase her a bit, and it takes three handfuls of sparrow meat before I manage to actually get the saddle on. She turns circles and tries to get it off at first, so it takes a few minutes for her to calm down. But, finally, she does, and I grin with relief. There's the saddle down.

[Firedancer77]

It takes awhile for me to get Scarlet used to the saddle. But after a few weeks, she finally will stand still and let me put it on her. She's seen me ride Native quite a few times, so hopefully me climbing on to ride her won't be too scary for her.

I approach her without Native today, and climb over the fence. She approaches me with a short, happy scream, and I smile. "Hello to you too, Scarlet."

Holding up the saddle, I begin to get it on to her. She seems impatient, but she stands still long enough for me to get it on. After that, I lead her over to the fence, and climb up.

"Alright girl. Are you ready for this?"

Slowly, I get myself on to her back. She seems confused, and turns in a circle, as if to figure out what I'm doing. It takes her some time to adjust to me being on there, and I am nearly tossed off a few times. But after that, she calms down enough to have me on. I manage to lead her out of the corral to the field, and coax her into a trot.

She decides not to stay at a trot though, and very quickly speeds up to a gallop. It's actually hard to stay on since I've never ridden her before and don't know her like I know Native, Dusty, or Bramble when I ride them. I end up falling off, and Scarlet realizes this quickly, because she stops. As I get back to my feet, she walks over, and I let out a chuckle. Thankfully that didn't hurt too much.

"Let's try that again, shall we?"