BEHS 898 – Maybelle

Maybelle is a smart horse who learns quickly. She had a rider on her back a few times at a walk at the SPCA of Texas, and she was then transferred to Bluebonnet. She was enrolled in the 2017 Bluebonnet Rescue Horse Training Challenge, but her trainer had to withdraw from the Challenge due to personal reasons, so Maybelle spent October 2017 with a trainer. She was adopted as a companion, not ridden, and returned about 16 months later. Maybelle is a pretty girl who is good on the ground: you can catch her and lead her. She stands tied and stands for the farrier. However, Maybelle is a smart mare who does not handle time off from work well. She has bucked in the past when she's had time off, and she's going to need a kind, but firm, trainer to bring her back into work. She's probably not ever going to be the kind of horse who can sit in a pasture for months and then be brought in and put right back to work. Maybelle needs consistent work. In the spring of 2019, she spent time with a trainer who worked with her on the ground. She taught her to do tricks like bowing and said that Maybelle is a quick learner. Because she's had so much time off and has a history of bucking, she has spent June-October with a professional trainer to be restarted and to prepare for the Bluebonnet Rescue Horse Training Challenge. Maybelle's trainer says she is an incredibly sweet, athletic mare that's going to make the right person a VERY nice performance horse. She's a very easy keeper, in your pocket type, loves to learn, and she tries really hard to please her human. She's doing exceptionally well under saddle and would excel in multiple directions. Maybelle has been started as a Western Dressage prospect, is very balanced and correct in her movement, and has been working hard to have as many bells and whistles as possible. She has great lateral movement, works off of her hind end well, and is very steady for the amount of time she's had under saddle. She's had a rope swung off of her with no issues, and there's no reason she wouldn't excel as a rope/barrel/ranch prospect in the right hands. She's done well over small jumps, is great with her leads, and has started work on her changes. Maybelle rides well in both a snaffle and a curb, is fine bareback, and has started work bridleless. At liberty she understands basic commands. She's great for the farrier, ties, clips, bathes, loads, and will follow you around like a puppy dog. Maybelle needs someone with very educated hands, steady seat, and correct legs who is a VERY confident rider. She feeds off of the energy of her person. She will go to the ends of the earth for someone who she trusts and can turn to for guidance and is a very chill, no nonsense girl, but she might revert back to bolting and bucking with a rider she does not trust.