Hi Ann,

Just wanted to let you know that Kalika is doing very well and  everyone is impressed with how mellow she is!


Today I took her out, her first solo ride in the orchards near the  barn, and she did really well! I had 
hand-walked her in the area  before but today was a whole different ball game.  We met a Walnut  orchard 
farmer and had a chat, we also saw dogs and goats and pigeons,  abandoned cars and barns, cacti and tree 
stumps -- she was looking  around the whole time and a bit hesitant to walk away from the barn at  first, 
but who can blame her without a buddy horse? We walked two  miles up a dirt road to the next big road and 
only had one little  spook when a wild turkey flew out of the ditch... She handled it  really well, just 
a little jump, and had a great attitude in general,  and a beautiful quick walk back to the barn (she 
already knows which  way is home ;) but no pushing or pulling. I was so happy!