WHEEHOOOOO!!!

I PASSED MY FIRST LEVEL FOUR SAVVY!!!!   - FREESTYLE!!!!!

We interns tested out with the Externs that just left, and I just got my results back today during my exit review and I passed my L4 freestyle!!!!!! *This* close to liberty, just would have needed a flying change of direction. 3++ in the other two savvys.. well, technically pre-L4 in finesse, as there is no 3, but same difference!

WHOOO HOOOOO!!!!

Here is what I put on Parelli Connec the day of the test :-)

Freestyle testing today. It went well-ish. I was pleased, but not satisfied I guess you could say. Mo was in a GO mood, so our stopping wasnt great, and it was slippy in the round corral in parts, so I felt out of balance when she moved… more bareback riding time! YEY!


The test was to start in a round pen, mount bareback [I am not talented enough to jump up from the ground so we used the fence] Once we were mounted we had to back up, walk a lap, trot a lap and canter four laps in both directions. That went pretty well, though it took Mo a few tries to get her balance on the right lead – which I found interesting, since she has been getting really good. From there we jumped off, saddled, remounted and headed out of the round pen to jump a log [which Mo WAY WAY overjumped!!! But we lived!] from there we were to go open and close a gate [went well] push a ball [Mo is great at that] and then pick up and move a bucket from one barrel to another. Things got dicey here! I had a halter with a savvy string on Mo, since I found out about the carrying things task, and it was a REALLY GOOD thing! I picked it up and things were ok, but when we started walking Mo got really tight and was going to super spook and bronc [its happened before] so I opted to drop the bucket and bend to a stop. Turned out well, I just dismounted and put the bucket back on the barrel and tried again. This time it worked out :-) We made it to the other barrel. Yey Mo! Its funny she has this reaction with buckets and cones, because I can take off coats and put them on the fence, or pick them up and carry them in a similar way no problem… more friendly game needed with this kind of thing obviously! After the bucket there was a weave pattern to do, which required drop to trot canter lead changes, which I think Mo actually did a good job at. She was go-ey, but she tried really hard for me, which I apreciate! Then it was off to the question box! Right canter depart [got the left lead, but fixed it on the first try] for two laps, simple change to the left for two laps, flying change to the right was called for [did a simple change] for a lap and then flying change to the left which we GOT and then stumbled, but still it was cool :-) for one more lap, then stop in the centre for 7 seconds. No problem! The goal was to do this with arms folded. I dont remember folding my arms because I had a carrot stick, but I didnt use the stick, and I had no reins to use, so YEY! I felt great about that part. We then had to show walk, trot, canter, halt, backup transitions down the center of the arena. Mo was go-ey on her stops, but we managed. Then sideways for twenty feet both ways, which was good, if a little forwards leaky. Overall, I felt pretty good about it. I know there was things we could have done better, but I was mostly really pleased! Afterward we trotted and cantered the whole way to the lodge to find the next person and then played around a little in the playground before going back to untack. Super fun day!
 
Cant believe we did it!!!!
 
 - S

My Face Hurts!

.... from smiling to much of course!!

Today was a fantastic day with Mo!

I went out to the barn and walked out the back to call Mo and she looked up and came right over! She was halfway to the far corner, so it was a pretty excellent feeling! I love that Mo is so enthusiastic these days! It really makes me feel good about what we are playing with.

We cleaned up and got ready in the barn before heading into the round pen. Once there I unclipped the reins and started with a little hindquarter yeild and sideways. Mo was in a really good mood, and I remembered some little cookies to help motivate her.  Things were going really great! She was very in tune to me, and really sticking with me. She offered me an incredibly soft trotting figure eight that made me squee out loud.... and then she decided that wasnt enough.

I half heartedly asked her to go off on a circle, which she usually squeals off to the fenceline of the round pen and does her laps there, BUT NOT TODAY!

Today, not only did she not squeal off, she left calmly at a trot, and stayed close to me, about a 12' circle and trotted TWO laps that close like she did it every day! HOLY WOW! Thats a first for Mo! I was SO excited, I brought her in before she lost interest and stuffed her face with all the cookies in my pockets while hugging her and scratching all her itchy spots and telling her she was awesome.

After allowing her to soak on that for a bit, I mounted and off we went on our adventure. I usually mount inside the round pen, since then we have to gates to open before we can be free, and today Mo was really soft and clever about the gates. It was such a treat! She is regularly pretty good, just sometimes gets a little ahead of herself, but today she was spot on and SUPER light!

Once we were on the laneway things were going really well. We passed the place where we had thresholds the other day and made it almost to the big tree before having one. It probably took ten minutes and a whole bunch of thresholds to make it to the 3/4 mark of the laneway, but once we were past it was smooth sailing. We made it all the way to the fresh cut field where the combine was the other day, before having another threshold.

After that one was addressed we trotted off and moseyed around the feild. I didnt really have a plan or a focus, and I think Mo felt that. I was still just flying high from the liberty wowness. Mo was a bit wishy washy at first, wandering this way and that, and feeling like she was getting tighter, so I finally clicked back into the present and did something about it. I put her on a circle, though it was pretty big to navigate in and around the moguls and hills the field was made up of.

She picked up the canter on her own, but I didnt slow her down, just directed her energy to maintain the circle. She got faster in the beginning but then started to level out in speed, and then miraculously her head went down, she started stretching and blowing, moving off my leg without speeding up.... WHOOHOO!!!

By the time we finished, we were bombing around the field doing flying lead changes freestyle and stopping without me even picking up the reins! Overall, pretty successful I think! I was smiling the whole time, and now my face is sore... Completely worth it though! I love Mo!

:-)
S

Whoops!

So I seem to have forgotten about my lonely blog over here... terribly sorry! Life has been busy!

While life has been hectic, its been the good kind, with lots of ponies and teaching.

I just wanted to generally comment and squee about my last ride with Mo. She is making improvements in leaps and bounds!

I played with her on Monday, and it started off really great as she power walked to me from the other side of the muddy spot when I opened the door in the barn. I tidied her up, trying to get the most of her shedding coat out.. but its still there. She looks almost summery though! The fact that it snowed yesterday probably isnt helping my cause very much...

After getting Mo as sparkly as a shedding pony gets, we went out to play in the ring. It has been graced with some ... poop... via our borrowed [I think?] manure spreader so all my obstacles were put away.  Mo and I set about resetting at least some of them - a clover leaf and one line of three barrels in a jump.  It was fun to drag the three barrels, because I threaded my savvy string through all three handles to drag them all at once and Mo was quite surprised with that! By the time we reached their destination though, she was quite pleased with herself and helping me push/pull them along.

We played some small things online. Our circling game is really coming along in terms of maintain gait, which I am proud of. Mo has lately been offering me two or three canter laps without breaking! Impressive for dear sometime-introvert! We have also been playing with Zone 5 driving, with stopping and backing by the tail for brakes. That has been fantastic so far. It just feels like everything is adding up right these days!

It really wasnt long before Mo felt good to get on, so I did, bareback and just left the halter on but unclipped the 22' and put my savvy string around her neck. Armed with a carrot stick, we set off on our cloverleaf. Im not sure if it was me that was off or just the two of us werent meshing right, but after a few minutes of trying different things, it just wasnt feeling right. So what do we do when it doesnt work at liberty? We go back online! I grabbed my finesse reins and clipped them on the halter to see if a little extra support would help.

I didnt really end up using the reins, they were just there, but it helps Mo and me to I suppose. Still something wasnt quite right, although this time I KNEW it was me! Why, you ask? Well! Mo was giving me this LOVELY round collected through canter that was so powerful through her back, that I couldnt be fluid enough to ride it bareback without getting in her way!

So I jumped off and made another change. We saddled up! I re-mounted and played with some transtitions and had a lot of saddle-slipping-forward syndrome... so I jumped off AGAIN! This time I altered my shim pattern down to just one thick shim [it was two thick and a thin] to test that and it was PERFECT!

So perfect in fact, that Mo decided today was the day she would grant me my wildest dream - FLYING LEAD CHANGES! She just did them like nothing, on a figure eight around the ring... *poof* change *poof* change... like it was that easy the whole time...! WOW! I was so so so happy and excited and proud of Mo that I littlerally jumped off of her to hug her and tell her how amazing she was.

I have always had some trouble determining what lead I was on, or asking for a specific lead since I never really studied that in my youthful trail-bombing experiences, and then my first horse was a one lead wonder for any rider, so that didnt help. For a long time Mo was too, until I figured it out in my body and now look where we are! I really didnt know if I would ever get to this point. Flying changes have always been on my dream list, but felt slightly unobtainable. I cant even express my joy about getting them!!!!

So thats my story.... 

I will try to post more often!

:-)
S

It Was a Good Day Today

It really was. Not a super fantastic great day, but it was a solid check in the Good box. Nothing extra ordinary happened. I went over to do my day of stalls this morning but I kept getting distracted by ponies... as is wont to happen fairly often. Mo actually watched me come in the laneway and then met me at the gate, which was adorable. Indy was in an attention grabbing mood to, so that was nice.

As it was warm out [hahahah sure, yea right, it was +1 C] I actually left the barn door open and was serenaded by the gate clanging as Roxy kept trying to reasure me that she would indeed fit through the space between the chained-closed gates. By the time I finished the first two stalls - one of which belongs to Indy - my princess was not so patiently waiting at the gate, so I got her some hay [she's dropping weight :-( ] and let her in to munch. She seemed pretty content to eat, even though being in the barn is not usually her favorite thing. Mo loves to be the only one inside, she gloats and carries on, Indy just wants to be outside again. Funny horses.

I finished all the stalls in a round about way and then went to see Mo, who was at the side gate again when I dumped the last load. Yesterday we played with backing out the gate because it is a tight squeeze with no turn around room due to the tractor being parked right there. When I went to just say hello and hug her, she obviously wanted to come in, so I tried to engineer a repeat of yesterday, but with the added challenge of being at liberty. Things didnt really fly so well and indy started making noise, so I just told Mo try-again-next-time and went to stuff some more food in front of m'dear noisebox.

Interestingly, when I popped my head back outside, Mo was still there and looking like she would please like to try again, so I offered her another chance. Lo and behold, she backed right out and pretty much all the way into the barn on her own. I will admit it was a little bit of an assumption on her part, but still pretty cool! I will have to work on that a little, change things up so its not always a super back up with no draw.

Mo got to hang out in her stall munching while I took out Indy. I shined her up and detangled her fair share of hair. Someone has been munching on it lately, so its all ugly and uneven now... she looks goofy. When it grows a bit I will even it out with the rest of her mane.... Poor girl.

After grooming her I grabbed the snazzy little gadget I aquired from the dollar store yesterday - one of those noisey three legged massager things. PERFECT clipping practice! I had intended to do this with Mo, but Indy was there, so I did it with her instead. I let her sniff it, then turned it on and walked away. She was a little skeptical of the noise at first, but her curiosity peaked pretty fast. It wasnt long before she was trying to get closer and closer and finally putting her nose on it, while it was on. Cool stuff. This is very similar to what we did in Ocala last year, so I am glad it stuck.

We progressed fairly quickly to rubbing her body and legs. She was a little concerned over her back at first but relaxed on the second try. She didnt do anything extreme, just flexed her back away from the vibration. The only thing the she actually moved her feet for was when I tried under her jaw. That was my fault. I saw after that I had blown through some thresholds under her neck and chest area, so I went back and worked with those and quit when she was ok with that and licking and chewing. We will tackle the jawline another time, she did awesome and I wanted a good note to end on since my fingers were losing circulation..!

In the barn I saddled her up with our new toy and off we went. I was VERY happy to see her blowing out and stretching in the walk. Indy RARELY if at all stretches and blows during a ride, and certainly not at the very beginning. That was a treat. We walked down the laneyway doing little transitions, freestyle, and little isolations of her fore quarters and hind quarters. I was a little miffed to find that they were softer and more precise than Mo's! How that happened, I really dont know... will have to see to that though! It was a lovely feeling though, the speed that she offered in the turn on the haunches was really fun to ride. I can see why people like to ride spins.

Another really nice part of the ride was the incredible light soft flowy sideways she offered. Sideways under saddle is usually really sticky for Indy, so that was a treat. I think the biggest thing for me to see today was the walk/trot transition. *Usually* going up into the trot, her head comes up and her ears get snarky - just a bit. Not today. Nope. Head stayed low, ears stayed happy. How interesting.

We didnt canter because the laneway was a little slippery, and we didnt make it to the road because we hit a big threshold that I didnt want to explode through, but we had a great time. It was nice to be able to hang out with my ponies two days in a row. Even if all I did with Mo was hug her and say hello [which is all I did]

I dont do well in the cold... Yes, it was nice out compared to standard fare around here, but it still wasnt summer, and I got cold and numb fingers, so after getting off of Indy I opted to go drop off Richard.

Like I said, it was a good day

:-)
S

FINALLY!

SHEESH! Well finally after nigh on a week without so much as SEEING my ponies I made the rain stop for ten seconds so I could get the gumption to go out in the cold and actually lay eyes on my lovlies. It has been raining basically non stop since Sunday, and since I am a wuss about cold, I wasnt to sorely tempted to go play in the rain and the cold. Until today.

You see, I have been suffering from withdrawl, and today I finally broke and decided I would go see Mo and Indy no matter if it was a freaking Ice Storm the second! I went straight from work becuase I knew if I so much as sat down in my warm cozy house I would never leave. Plus, once you already have a zillion layers on, taking them off and re-donning them is really a pain in the bum.

I wouldnt say my horsey withrawl has been completely sated, but enough that I was able to come home tonight! It is so not the same seeing other peoples horses [namely the ones at work] compared to my own. I loves mine the best... obviously. And they are MINE. ALL MINE MUAHAHHAHHA. Erm. Ignore that. My brain still tends towards that of ten year old me who owned no ponies and wanted one desperately. NOW I HAVE TWO! BWAHAHAH.... *cough*

SO ANYWAYS!

I went out today. It was raining. It stopped for two minutes for me to call and badger and knock gae chains enough to get the horses attention and have them come over from waaaaaayyyy in the very farthest corner from the barn. YEY. Saves me a gazillion steps! It was so cute because Mo didnt really realize it was me calling them all in [usually its Aunty] and so she was just poking along, "Yep, Im coming" and when I noticed that I called her name and her head just went ZING up and her ears perked forwards and she just power trotted all the way over to me, through the other horses [big deal for her] and just gave me the best OH BOY YOU ARE HERE LETS PLAY look. Priceless! Love Mo!

I opened the gate right quick because Indy was hot on her trail and the two together make lots of nice kicking fights... better to get Mo out of the way! With Mo in the barn safely, the drizzle re-started and I went on with loving on my Mo. Who I adore. Did I mention that? We played with some bowing things, I am trying to get her to understand it without me leading her nose down and it is *almost* at the point where I can just point at either front leg and she at least thinks down and back, which is cool. She usually half does it and goes "See?? I did it! Cookies?" Which I can assure you is super adorable.

I started grooming her, since all those zillions of hairs take uber upkeep or turn into dreads, and her *sniffle* winter coat is coming in and shedding out her summer one.. *cries*  At one point one of the lights flickered and snapped and scared poor Mo who turned tail for the gate, but I turned of the line of lights it was in and she came back and relaxed right away.

I saddled her up with out new shim set up - I havent ridden her since I put the biggest gullet in the saddle. We played some more little fun things in the barn and then headed out the back. This is my new brilliant plan you see. Stealing from the racetrack training! When I have ridden we do jog laps. 2 in each direction. Well, I figure that the pasture is roughly the same circumfrence as the track [verrry roughly] so me and Mo, and eventually Indy to, can do trotting laps. This A] works on maintain gait, B] Follow the rail pattern and C] WORKS OFF FLUBBER from both of us! HAHA My ponies both had ... good summers. Neither are hurting for food going into winter. So with my new plan, we headed out and right at the beginning of my track there is a gate that goes out onto the laneway. Well darn if Mo doesnt just go crazy and freak out! One rein stop time!

I waited and waited with her until she actually checked in and licked my boot - thats pretty key with Mo, wait until she comes back to being curious and playful, not just stopped. Otherwise she just spins off again... We played some squeeze game with the spooksyness and moved on to our laps. Interestingly, keeping her trotting was not an issue. At all. Way to go responsibility number two! WHOO! She just trotted and trotted like a little energizer bunny. She sped up and slowed down a lot at first, and I also had to put her back on the rail a whole bunch, but by the second lap she was really getting the picture.

We changed direction after two laps and went two in the other direction, a lot less corrections! Still some, but she was really figuring out the pattern, which is what I wanted to see. It was also a lot easier to put her back on the rail, much more soft and supple instead of bracy and confused. After two trotting laps in the second way [this makes four total] I asked for a canter and we did 3/4 of a lap cantering. This was a little trickier, but not by much. We had pretty much established the Follow the Rail concept, so it was just gait I was being picky with now. Maintain the canter is usually a little less reliable with Mo because she likes stopping AND she is a trotting breed mix. So even though she has a loverly canter, its not so much her thing. She is comfy in the trot and can trot up a storm! You should see her play out in the feild! WHOA! GO PONY! Her "I think I am a hackney" days are a hoot!

Point being, the maintain gait responsibilty became a little fuzzy a few times. I think it was about four.. ish. I didnt count exactly. I should, I will next time. She always picked it right back up though AND the last time she dropped to a trot for two strides and checked herself back into a canter which was fabulous!

On the last line back to the barn we dropped to a walk, kept following the rail and walked right past the scary place with barely a glance. JOY!

Back into the barn, I untacked Mo and under her saddle was hardly even damp. HA. Have to wonder how much of the sweat off the thoroughbreds is from effort and how much is from being held back and them pulling so strongly.... I did my ride completely freestyle in the hackamore...  how interesting.

Anywyas, Mo and I played some more in the barn, I stretched her out on both sides bowing and then said goodnight and thank you. Indy was actually at the back gate too when I turned Mo out, which was nice.  I hope I can be brave enough tomorrow to go out in the yuck again, I want to experiment more with my plan!

:-)
S

Productive Day

I got a lot done today! And not just with the ponies, so that is good. Unfortunately I cant ride 24/7 and still be able to exist and all that... Maybe some day!

I started the day mowing the ring once more, scalping it on the lowest setting. It looks really nice again AND I didnt get stuck tis time! I may have been aided by the fact that it hasnt been raining every day, but I am still calling that a plus!

Indy got to play first today. It was really really interesting online! We have been playing with upping our figure eight lately and so we went over to play with that. Last night was a bit bracy on the turns but today was just gorgeous and flowy!! I remember thinking "Oh wow.. this feels really good!" She was giving me enthusiasm and canters and really tuned in trying really hard. On my end, when she was drifting to far, I wasnt interrupting her, I was trying to see if I could just redirect her attention and help her find the pattern... lo and behold! Success! Hmmm... how interesting!

We played with transitions as well , and circles over the barrels and some more stick to me. All went very well. Our yo-yo to, is coming along really nicely, she really puts effort into backing up even at phase 1/2! YEY!

After saddling and doing some more little things to check the girth and whatnot, I bridled her and off we went, same set up as yesterday. We did a couple of rounds walking and doing circles at the walk with the reins on her neck AGAIN! She was fabulously responsive! Really following my focus and I wasnt having to use my leg hardly at all. What a neat feeling!

We picked up the trot and went into a cloverleaf pattern, which went surprisingly well! I played with my fluidity, trying out the sitting trot and trying not to over-post. I find I do that a lot with Indy because her stride is big, but its not bouncy, so I over exagerate for no reason, or maybe because I used to have a hard time with her trot, so I try to hard now even though I have a pretty good handle on it. I played a lot wiht letting her motion be the only thing that pushed me around and I must say I was quite surprised how LITTLE I came out of the saddle. Fun Fact: When I was playing with this and finally picked a posting tempo that matched her better, she stopped speeding up at the trot when I posted! HOW INTERESTING! Something to this Fluidity stuff... HA!

After feeling pretty comfy with the trot we moved into the canter and kept it up for longer than we had yesterday. I had an interesting surprise waiting for me - I found out I used the reins to balance at the canter! Not in a haul-on-the-mouth way, just in a position way. I was used to balancing her canter with my hands down where they would be with the reins, and when they werent there my balance was off! Hmm... So we played with that a bit and it got better. Not perfect yet, but definate improvement. Interesting that I never had that with Mo... I think it is the stride length difference and just being accustomed to having reins in my hand, even freestyle.

After a couple of trot/canter transitions Indy got a bit impulsive, so before something went wrong I opted to pick up the reins. We played with some more fluid rein and contact and such. We also played with transitions within the trot - how slow can you go, how fast can you go. The coolest thing with those was that I wasnt using my leg at all, she was super in tune to my body energy! She was very soft and flowy, extending easily and slowing down easily to while maintaing mental contact and following my focus. It was very cool. Very light. It really showed me where lightness can go.

On one particularly sharp extended trot to halt in our question box I jumped off and called it a day. We breifly addressed trailer loading before turning out - it is SO much better. Basically walk up and get in AND be comfy for me to put the but bar up. YEY!

When we were all done and she was out I went home for lunch and came back later to hang with Mo. She was in the shed, so I crawled through the fence to say howdy and we walked over to the gate that way, semi at liberty/led by the mane. My initial plan was to do a passenger lesson bareback, so I just grabbed the confidence snaffle bridle and reins, because they are lighter that the 12' all done up. We played online first of course, with some interesting results.

Right off the bat Mo was in a strange mood. I was walking along and I asked her to go out and around me a *little* bit and she literally took off at a dead gallop. Mo. Dead gallop. The horse I cant get to maintain three circles at a canter lapped me four times at least GALLOPING. I was just to stunned to interrupt, and she looked left brain about it. I just figured she was being oversensitive, so I played with it, aimed her at barrels, got changes of direction, transitions and all kinds of things. A little bit of figure eight to. It was only later when I finally got her to hold still that I saw/felt the emotional sweat and I found out it wasnt left brain. Or maybe it was, just adrenaline, because she was still paying attention and doing what I suggested. I am not quite sure what happened yet.

It worked out in the end, I focused on close range circles, trying to get her to lower her head and relax. She is really good at putting her head down one way, and will do it at the walk trot and canter, to the extent of even kicking herself in the chin on occasion. The other way is a lot harder, I think her ribs are a little out. She made some small changes, but not all the way loose the other way yet. But at least she was calm and not so ready to run off. I chose this moment to mount up.

Surprisingly, after all the fireworks, the ride was beautiful. Not what I expected, but beautiful. I was planning a mostly freestyle bareback passenger lesson. What happened was a beautiful finesse ride! She was softly collect in all gaits, lightly responding to my leg, following the pattern [cloverleaf] just beautifully. I was even impressed in my head by Mo, she was so soft, I was able to suggest a soft feel with the reins and ONLY suggest a soft feel with the reins. I wasnt using the reins for turning or anything else! I am so proud of Mo! Lightness is coming!!!

:-)
S

Mo Is All Grown Up!

I cant believe its happened already. She will forever be the tiny little two week old filly hiding behind her mom in the box stall. Mo isnt just a baby anymore, she is all grown up and I am so proud of her!

Today, she gave her first ever pony rides to a crew of ten/eleven year olds for my cousins Eleventh Birthday Shindig. Before the event I went out to bring her in because she was in the run in shed and close. I just called her name and she walked over to me, which was nice. Indy said hi to, which was also nice and Mo proceded to follow me into the barn sans halter AND disengage and wait for me while I closed the gate which was an extra treat.

Once in the barn we played with our new thing - bowing. I accidentally taught Mo to bow last night when I dropped a cookie and she dove for it, performing an awesome bow. Anything for cookies that one! She cracks me up, really. After that she got all fancied up, brushed and lovely [have to look nice for the young'uns right!] and we went out to play.

Online was fun, she was in a really good mood, being really sesitive and I was testing out how little I could do to still be effective. It turned out to be a *very* little, which pleasantly surprised me. We have been having some minor issues with her being obstinate lately, since being home, and I thought it was maybe just because she was rusty after being left alone so long, but I think now maybe its because I was YELLING at her! I would be offended to if everyone YELLED at me instead of talking and asking politely!

So with that now in my perspective, things went a lot better. Until saddling! Mo has NEVER been a complainy horse about having a saddle on. She bucked one time with a new western saddle I was trying on her, but it was sitting waaay to long on her back so she was completley entitled. Today, she really didnt have a reason that I could see, I re-checked everything after she started hopping around and there wasnt anything physically wrong with the setup.

She wasnt outright bucking. More just hunching her back and crow hopping a little. Generally looking uncomfortable/having an attitude outburst. Given that we were supposed to be giving pony rides to complete novice children in the next hour, I was pretty concerned with her behaviour. I asked her out on the circle and asked for speed, since you cant really buck and gallop at the same time [I hoped] This seemed to help, and she started blowing and relaxing and getting some SHARP change of direction. I am still perplexed as to why she bucked in the first place, but she seemed to come out of it fine so I decided to mount and see how she was feeling that way to, just ot be ultra sure!

When I got on I just made my 22' into reins and had my carrot stick for support. Going freestyle around the ring doing walk/back transitions and troting with her head down went great. Mo eventually got bored of that [in about two minutes] and started cantering. Now THAT was different. Mo isnt usually an overly go-y horse, she is more extroverted on the ground and tends towards introvert in the saddle. So to have her offering a canter was definatly different! To boot, she was offering almost perfect canter CIRCLES! MY INTROVERT! Circling! HA!

I even have witnesses! My aunty was there to see the whole thing! Me and Mo cantered for a good while [and it was nice uphill slow flowy canter to.. mmm] before finally stopping [on energy!] and feeling ready for pony rides. Mo did GREAT at pony rides. Her whole attitude shifted really dramatically and she stepped more carefully and slowed right down. What a change in her!

Mo has grown up so much over the years. Mostly in the last year or two really. I really do love the horse she has become ....

:-)
S

Liberty Attemps, Fun and Spanish Walk Finale!

Fabulous night last night! Tons of fun, lots of laughing and copious amouts of genius ponies! When I first got there Kota and Mo were both over by the shed so I went into the tackroom to fill my pocket with apple snacks and grab my carrot stick. I had a mild liberty plan forming in my head, just to see what would happen. Mostly I wanted to see if I could play with Dakota at all, to improve his spanish walking-ness.

Betweent he time it took me to fill my pockets and get back to the gate, both ponies were there! How nice! I gave them both some treats through the fence and then went into the ring. Kota was a bit standoffish but Mo was all over me - which brought up Kota's enthusiasm when he saw she was getting munchies! I let them swarm me and get their hugs for a bit and then tried to ask Dakota to lift a leg. He did - YEY- got his treat and walked away... hmm. I think Mo was making dirty faces at him behind my back because when I turned to look at her, her ears were mid flick and she was trying mighty hard to look innocent!

Oh well! Mo time! I friendlied her with the stick and string then threw the string over her withers and asked her to walk with me. It was kind of funny at first because she tried to yeild her hindquarters to me, since thats what I usually ask for with a string-over-back type thing, so I had to go back to L1 style driving, which was neat that it worked! We walked and trotted around a bit, lots of treats, lots of licking and chewing. Some sideways towards, and around. I tried to do a complete yeild/slowspin thing but Mo got confused and went "nanner nanner!" and canter pranced off. I had to laugh. She is such a goober.

She went over to Dakota so I headed in a vauge that direction until they both looked at me. Neato. Then I walked closer and Mo went "Oh you cant catch me yet" and went to leave soI altered course and went to the fenceline to chat and give treats to Crystal. Mo *hated* that and stormed right over demanding her treats and attention. *snicker* I love Mo....

This time I threw the string over her neck and played with yeilding around that way and walked over to the gate. Everything went shiny until we got to the gate and I paused to open it. Mo saw her opening and gave me the "nanner nanner" look again and she spun and cantered off - now she wasnt bolting off, she was daintily prancing her way slowly away from me, clearly playing catch me if you can. It was quite hysterical.

She went to the shed this time so we played some hide and seek around it, which was hugely fun. Until Mo caught me again and we tried the gate again, this time doing lots of Focus-Please transitions on the way, hoping I wouldnt lose her at the gate again. Success! We got through the gate no problem and moseyed right into the tackroom again - Mo is quite proud of herself now.

I saddled her, grabbed the hackamore and put a 22' line on, and back out we went. On the way back to the gate we had some grass snatching issues so we played with that a bit, making me realize I wasnt being soft enough! When she jamme don the breaks to stop, I was asking her to go again, but she would always JUMP forwards, how interesting. I slowed down and realized maybe thats why Mo has been so spastic lately - as she gets more sensitive to my requests, I havent really been altering myself to measure up to her. WHOA!

SO! With that new BFO in mind, we got into the ring and I started asking Mo to do things at the lightest possible phase. WOW. I got a nice slow straight yo-yo all the way to 22', ten questions before going out on the circle [usually she tears out before asking if I might have meant sideways or back] super soft gait transitions, EVEN halt! Gorgeous change of direction to! WOWY! Even when I brought my energy up for canter stick to me, she was right with me and completely came back down again afterwards [that has been a problem, she stays adrenalized] She was licking and chewing a TON and thinking about everything and trying her heart out! She looked so happy!!

We played with the weave pattern to, and Mo offered it at a trot! Good mood much? When I finally mounted up I was really excited to see how this ride would pan out... Mo's good mood had even held over through a quick bathroom break where we ran up to the house and she tried to climb the porch :-)

So I mounted, and Mo waited and asked for a treat [which she got] and I settled into the saddle, feeling out the new shim pattern, and it still felt good. Off we walked on a casual rein. We practiced our follow the rail and stopping in the corners. Mo has a habit of sweeping by corners! I knew it was working for her when we were trotting and I wanted to pass a corner and I felt her almost deke into the corner anyway - cool feeling, smart horse.

We went around doing walk trot transitions, she was super low and stretchy on the far side, but still getting tense on the spooksy tree side. Thank you Legend. *sigh* Eventually I felt good to pick up the canter so we did canter halt transitions for the long side - pick it up, canter the long side, stop in the corner. Trot to the next corner, canter to the long side. Lather rinse repeat. That seemed to help Mo calm down about the scary side because I had a fixed point and she got a treat every time she made it there.

I decided to step it up then and work on cantering a whole lap. Going to the left it worked out ok just because of where the scary place is in the ring. Going to the right she broke to a trot because of the scary place but didnt spook, so I am proud of her for that. It is so weird being concerned about her spooking.. this is a total first!

After cantering laps we walked around to cool off - had a time limit last night unfortunately - and practiced stopping off my body. Ok, you might say ew gross or yuck, but it worked like a charm anyways - I picked poo piles as our stop points because the ring is also a paddock and there is poop in various places - like the rail. By the end, even on the scary side, Mo was stopping off my body, exactly at whatever poo pile I picked. I was thrilled!

When I jumped off Mo looked around at me all proud, that was nice. I untacked her and put her in the back yard to graze. Dakota had moseyed over while I was putting away Mo's things so I grabbed some more treats and went to say hi. He is such a happy camper. We played with more spanish walk leg lifts and that got really good. Kota will do anything for food sometimes! Then I thought whay the hay and grabbed the hackamore for Kota to see if maybe I could get him to leg lift while I was sitting on him.

Turns out no, but I did get to canter around on him and ride his ultra uber super smooth trot that I love :-) S o that was rather delightful.

After I finished with Kota, I put Mo back in her feild, gave them both lots more love hugs and treats and finally had to leave. They both got dinner and were pleased with that though. A very good afternoons work I think. My weather goddess alter ego showed up to, just as I got into my truck it started to rain, so I am thankful I didnt have to get moist.

:-)
S

PS: I have been able to secure myself a lease horse! A wonderfully kind lady has agreed to let me lease her horse, a 16 year old Arab x Quarter Horse! That should be different from my usual drafty crossess....!

Good/Bad/Interesting

Given the title of this entry you should have some idea that I have no idea what to think of last nights session with Mo. I really dont. A few things were off kilter - I forgot my ipod and I had a time limit - that I think affected me in some way.

When I got to the barn all of the horses were in the shed hiding from bugs. Those blasted little tiny blackflies that never went away all summer. Walking to the barn I called Mo's name and she looked over at me ears forward, good sign! I filled my pockets once more before going out. I forgot to grab a halter.

Indy was at the very edge of the shed so that when I went through the gate I could see her bum. I called her name and much to my surprise she turned around and came over to me! Hmm!! I gave her some treats and checked that her milk wasnt causing problems and was confronted with Tucker, who was watching the whole procedure with intense curiosity. Tucker is usually kind of a reculse to me, doesnt like to be scratched on his face at all. I offered him a chance to sniff me and gave him a crunch. He looked pleased at that so I went back to loving on Indy a bit more before going to find Mo. On the way I met Pride again, who looked thrilled that I had another treat for her.

Past Pride was Delilah, who actually half pinned her ears in my direction! When she did, I stopped and then she sort of did a double take and went "Wait.. what?" And looked at me ears up so I gave her a treat to. Interesting. Behind her was Trixie and Mo, with Tripp in between the two. As soon as I ducked under Delilah's neck, Tripp turned around and made to leave. Trixie and Mo on the other hand looked really happy!! I spent some time with those two while Tripp left - which made me sad but it really is not my business.

I got Trixie to move eventually, along with Delilah's bum so Mo and I could leave and off we went. We hit a minor hitch when Indy blocked our way at the end and Mo left when I went to move Indy - jealousy I think . The second time I brought Mo forwards we got to the gate no problem and I let her into the barn. She went down the aisle and into Prides stall.

When I got the gate latched Indy was there looking sad, wanting dinner so I got her some more crunches. When I fetched Mo out of the stall she was looking very pleased with herself. I brushed and saddled her in the aisle and then we were on our way with a 22' line. We played in the riding ring because the bugs are less vicious there.

I wanted to play with the figure 8 pattern, but needed to retrieve a barrel from the re-flooded portion of the ring. I backed Mo out of the way [so the rope wouldnt get wet, I admit] and proceded in my retrieval pattern.... until Mo went beserk and ran like an insane horse around me. Thankfully, my hand was phase 4 pattern interrupting before my mind conciously acknowledged what had happened. [Interesting to note that I think - one small bit of unconcious competence]

Mo looked very 'up' so I sent her around behind me and backed her a bunch until she remained reasonably attentive then went back to moving my barrel. She moved again, but not insanely, to over in front of my, so instead I just asked her to back away from the barrel as I rolled it. Strange pony.

We played with the figure eight pretty nicely at a trot, with even a few offers to fix her own mistakes when she was going to miss the barrel. That was cool.

When she was ready I mounted up with a 12' tied in one rein and a carrot stick. Riding around at a walk was fine, we chased Candy out of the ring, even getting some back and sideways nicely in our pseudo bridless fashion. At the trot things sort of fell apart. Im not really sure why. I think maybe her confidence just wasnt there so I decided to 'hold her hand'. That worked really well for Dakota last time I had him at Auntys and we got some really great stuff accomplished.

I tied my 12' into reins and ditched my carrot stick. Mo's head was up, so to get a soft feel my reins ended up quite short, which was a semi-novel experience. Off we went into trot/halt transitions and doing a figure eight exagerated and huge around one of the barrels we used earlier and the lonely barrel in the far end of the ring. Mo was really soft in the halter. I was actually surprised. 'Usually' she likes to push against me when I take up any kind of contact on the halter.

Our transitions were good, and she was blowing and calming down so I asked for a canter. Oh boy... scattered! It was rished, it was fast, it felt discombobulated. Oh my! Hmmm... why? I sitll dont know. So I tried to work on canter walk transitions with some full downward all the way to backing thrown in for good measure. Things got better with that. Our canter departs got fairly snappy. I think I wasnt helping to much because I was fighting to stay on my balance point in the Wintec Wide which seemed to be riding really low on her today.... I will have to experiment with more shims in different places or something.

So we went around, with a soft feel and short reins. Things werent great, but niether was I having to phase 4 disengage to stop her. It was all softly done. I remember thinking this is what it should be, and what Pat means when he says softer..softer.. go softly in all those colt starts. Just because Mo's freestyle is getting good, doesnt mean her baby finesse will be. Or does it?

I find I need to relax. Whether it was the saddle or not, I had a lot of tension in my body last night. I had a hard time following her body, a small ache in my back and I generally felt stiff. If I felt like that, how did Mo feel?? I am going to try some different shimming techniques and see if that helps...

When things were mostly ok in the ring I decided to practice my canter fluidity on the trails because of the long straight stretches. I also remember thinking that it *might* be a mistake. Hmm... I cant decide if it was or not. It certainly wasnt what I wanted to do. Mo was tight, concerned that every clump of grass was going to kill her, and only calmed down on the last bit of the ride back to the barn. Suffice to say, my fluidity didnt improve at all.

Even right when I dismounted I couldnt decide how to feel. I dont know how to feel about the session. I am proud that she was soft and responsive, but there was tension and unhappyness about it.... I just dont know.... so we will see where it goes from here.

I am thinking more and more about a Fluidity Saddle for Mo and me - and Indy and Kota to. I am just tired of struggling to find balance in the Wide, and I am not sure the other saddle fits Mo right... let the saving begin I suppose.

:-)
S

Indy's Trail Ride!

Before I get into our awesomely awesome session last night I want to share an interesting observation I came up with while mulling over said session before going to bed. I do that a lot. I get my best thinking done right before I fall asleep. Just like Pat says - do your feeling during the day and your thinking at night!

I was thinking last night about how.... soft.... Indy is. What amounts to a phase four for her on the rein to turn or do lateral flexion is only a phase three for Mo. I thought about this for a good while trying to figure it out, because when it happened yesterday I had to conciously FORCE myself to relax, slow down, and be light [what GOOD training for ME!]

It comes down to this. I think. Inside Indy's head plays refined elevator music. Elegant, fancy, delicate, soft. When she asks a question or makes an observation [such as on the trail] it comes out like "Oh My! What an interesting foliage formation!". Very classy, very educated. That is just how she is. In order to be 'heard' by her, it takes very little, because her internal volume is already on low - thats why I have to be so slow and light. If I give her enough of a chance, she will do everything on phase one and two - with the added bonus of not getting offended!

When compared to my darling Mo, the difference is plain. Inside Mo's head plays something along the lines of the ramjam noise on christmas morning the Grinch is always complaining about. A hundred different do-dads makings sounds in an incoherent mess. When Mo makes an observation is comes out like "OH WOW!!! OMG that is SO NEAT!! What else is there?? Whats over there?? COOL TREE!" Very energetic, verbose and enthusiastic. In order to be heard by Mo sometimes, it comes out as more of a "HELLO Im here!" and she mentally turns on her heel and goes" OH really?? I didnt see you there!" Which is part of why having her attention and keeping it is so crucial - and that while I do have it, the things we can do are crazy insane, just because of that enthusiasm and willingness to try anything.

Polar opposites, and I love the, both. I havent figured out Dakota yet.

So last night!

Last night was just FABULOUS beyond all reasoning. Indy caught me - walked herself to the gate. Haltering is getting so much better! We went into the barn SANS Ivy, which was just spectacular, and got tidied up. I just so cant resist brushing Indy. Dont know why. I didnt braid her this time. I saddled her with Dakota's Wintec Wide, just to see, since I finally remembered my short girth. Seems to fit her really well! I am hoping it will encourage her to use her back and reform all the topline she lost when Ivy sagged her belly down to her knees.

Saddled up and ready to go, I grabbed my 22' and carrot stick and we were off into the riding ring. Candy is such a non-event. Stands in the corner ignoring us. Ivy was making a few small noises, but Indy definately didnt care at all. Whoo! Point for me! We played around with Touch This and softeness with change of direction/falling leaf and not pulling on the line.

Sideways is still hard for her, but she tries so hard! So we get a couple of quality steps and change it up again. Lots of dwell time though. Lots of softness, waiting and dwelling - and you know what? TONS of licking and chewing! TONS! *yey!* *does happy dance*

When I mounted up today there was no drift. NONE! YES! She stood like a rock, and was adorable while I fidgeted with the mecate, tying it to my saddle. When we finally moved off, we set off at breakneck speed.... walking... She ambled off so we dabbled a bit. I asked her to turn with my leg and that almost went over but she changed her mind and ignored me until I put the carrot stick into play.

We went around playing follow the rail at a walk, walking the FULL rail including behind the shed [which scattered Candy each time and made me giggle] After two rounds Indy stopped trying to stop at the gate, which was great. We turned and went the other way - making it almost all the way around on body/leg!- and picked up a trot. It was that trot again. Her stride was even bigger though! I think she was experimenting in the bigger saddle. It was a dream to ride. She broke to the canter a few times hurrying, but I hardly picked up the rein before she came back down to a trot.

We played around both directions follow the rail, walk trot and canter, turning, circling barrels and all the fun stuff until I couldnt take any more of the itty bitty black flies. NOW things got interesting. Base point is I am lazy and Indy is a big horse. Mounting/dismounting/remounting is sort of a chore. So when I decided I wanted to take my big brave amigo out on the trails with only a gate in my way, instead of jumping off and going through the gate and clambering back up, I siddled Indy up to the gate, and in an Indy-First-Ever, we NAVIGATED THE GATE!

We havent done any sideways undersaddle at all yet, so I had to hint a bit with my carrot stick, but overall, it went REALLY well! Indy and I opened AND closed a gate!! Talk about feeling successfull!

As we walked across the back yard, the trampoline looked like a shady character so we approach/ retreated with it until that was sorted, then headed out on to the trail. I let Indy take little bites of the long grass when she wanted, just pleased to even be out here without a major freakout! When we got past the Stealth Trees we picked up a trot and then Indy kept looking around, trying to see around corners, it was so cute. She was so happy!

Her ears were up, her expression was bright, her head was up, but not RB up, just looking around AND [big very happy AND] I was on a completely casual rein! YEY INDY! We did walk trot transitions on the long stretch because she got a little tense, and that settled her right back down. We trotted up the hill and turned around to come back down. She almost wanted to go back to the barn, but decided I might have fun ideas to. It was actually that exact moment that brought me to my softness train of thought.

We walked down the hill no problem and then picked up the trot... and then... the canter! No problems, no spooks, no issues, casual rein, cantering down the trail on my pony! When we got to the curve we slowed back to a walk and walked back to the barn to untack. I didnt want to push it the first day on the trails afterall. Good notes are... well... GOOD!

I cant even express the high I was on. AM on. Indy was just amazing. She surprises me more and more everytime I play with her. WHAT A GOOD HORSE! I let her graze happily in the back yard after untacking her. She was pretty pleased with that. Even when I put her back out she was stellar. She even waited at the gate for me, to bring her a handfull of crunch since I forgot to grab some going down the aisle, when usually she turns tail and walks right off. What a girl.... I love my horse!

And thats the story of Indy's first ever trail ride. ! :-)

:-)
S

Awesome Indy

Sunday afternoon was just as, if not more, spectacular than Sunday morning. Dakota was amazing, but I know what he can do. Indy still surprises me at every turn. When I caught Indy and brought her in, she stood tied no problem while I went back to fetch annoying Ivy. I tied Ivy further away this time for practice and didnt worry about her at all. The occaisional pebble thrown her way alleviated the pawing thing.

Indy is just honestly the prettyest horse I have ever met. She STILL makes me stop and go wow. I have had/known her for a year and still. Kota and Mo do it to me to, but in different ways. Dakota in spring full golden is just plain gorgeous - but not like Indy, he is more in the magnificent category, noble and strong. Mo is only pretty to me I think. Just because I love her so much. Indy though... is just stunning. And thus, everytime I play with her I feel obligated to help her look her best. I brushed her to a high shine, show sheened her mane and tail and then braided her mane in a nice running braid - oestentiabbly to help keep her cool, since her mane is so long, but really she just looks so pretty all fancied up!

When I came back with the saddle I had to wait EXTRA long before she looked at me. All the way from the tack room door - and she was near the end of the aisle. It was really interesting! When she finally did acknowledge that I was bringing that thing her way again, but that I had waited for her to accept it, she was really happy, so I know it was the right thing to do.

Once she was saddled I changed to a 22' and brought Ivy and a piece of baler twine. I tied Ivy to a sturdy post with the baler twine and proceded to squeeze Indy to and from her. *Usually* Ivy is totally ok with Indy leaving her, as long as she can see her. Ivy acted up a little, but nothing major so I felt ok to walk away. We stayed still close, so that WHEN the little stinker did act up I was close enough to be able to drop Indy and rescue her. *sigh* It happened twice before I just gave up and threw her in the big feild away from us in the ring.

Apparently Baby is ready for weaning, as she was perfectly content to stand in the shed with all the other horses, not worried at all about her mom. Indy was even happier to be rid of the suckling spawn. I am three months to late as far as she is concerned! I was really proud though of Indy for not fretting. I definately think having someone in leadership position helped her.

We played with getting our transitions snappy, and then stopping and putting her nose on the barrel. When she got that she was super excited! Looked at me like "Did you see?? I put my NOSE on it!" Shes so cute. I forget sometimes that shes Mo's age, she 'seems' much older sometimes. Motherhood did that to her. I hate that. I hope now she can rediscover her inner youth. Her eyes just light up with such happiness when she figures stuff out. SUCH a clever horse! So we carreened around, putting our nose on things and taking off in a good working trot instead of the shuffle she sometimes tries to pass off as a trot.

When she was ready, and the girth was tightened I hopped aboard in an almost nimble fahsion, mostly just proud I CAN get on from the ground since the stirrup is waaay up there. Indy walked off a bit, so we will have to work on that. It was the only thing so far she had done to draw towards Ivy, so I couldnt really fault her. I had a hackamore on her, and my carrot stick in my hand. Goal is still to move off of my leg, so minimal reins!

We played with walk follow the rail which was SUPER hard for Indy at first! A million "back at the rail please"s she caught on and walked happily on the rail. Every other lap or so I let her go behind the shed and stop so she could see Ivy through the fence. She licked and chewed each time, so I guess it was good! Helps her know I wont push her to far I guess :-)

When we picked up the trot it was that trot I dream about... the trot that I couldnt post to save my life when I got her. Mo has done WONDERS for my adaptability. I must admit, I was very spoiled by Mr Comfypants Dakota. He is so smooth and slow and comfortable, trying to get in sync with Mo is STILL problematic sometimes. BUT now my muscle memory has in stock all the bazillion different speeds Miss Mo comes up with so now when Indy picks up her gorgeous trot, I can trot WITH her! Yey!

Before I go further I have to reitterate just HOW comfy Indy is to ride. O.M.G. SO smooth, and flowy and just..... drool worthy. You feel like you are just floating around. It is beyond wonderful. I love it. So much!

So anyway...
We trotted around, and then one circuit she seemed to just have extra go to get back to Ivy, so I took advantage, set us up for success, sat back and sent a tad more energy her way and VOILA WE CANTERED!!!!!!!!!!!! For the whole second time in my Indy-career, I cantered her! And this time for more than three strides! [More uber ultra comfyness, just btw]

We cantered all the way down the long side of the ring and stopped [no problem] behind the shed so she could see Ivy. She was licking up a storm! Smart cookie that Indy, for the rest of the session when I asked for a canter it was right there, no questions asked, no fault no fowl, just poof, canter. WOW!

Now Indy is an extrovert, and so a long horse, so eventually all these straight lines got to be a little much and her impulsion got higher as she tried to canter more when I asked for a trot. How interesting! To 'counteract', as it were, the over impulsion, I changed to a concentrated rein [for accuracy] switched my stick down to a more 'crop' position, just so it was out of the way, and went into a million transitions. Trot to walk to back up. Until she was completely with me again.

AND! BONUS! By the end of the session, after doing transitions around barrels in circles, she was STARTING TO MOVE OFF MY LEG!!! WHOOO!!! We will have lightness yet!!!

When doing the transitions I made sure I tried the suspension rein, because Indy likes to dump forwards on the downwards transtitions, this really just helped her pick her self up and come to a stop instead of clunking to a stop.

Walking out went super great to, we went around corners on mostly leg, only some stick to block zone one from veering around in a complete circle. VERY cool!

I am so so so so PROUD of Indy! She was AMAZING! And it looks like Ivy dearest will be departing soon [yey!] so I can get even more quality time with my favorite paint. I am so excited to be able to help Indy develop into the super horse I know she can be!!

:-)
S

Back in Action!

Sunday morning I got up and attem because I was supposed to be veiwing my new dvd's with a friend. She called to cancel ten minutes after I got up. Doh! Back injuries suck rather hardcore. I was left with the entire day to myself, with nothing but sunshine and good tunes to accompany me!

Playing with Mo at home has made me feel a little guilty for not playing with Dakota so I grabbed his halter and some apple snacks and went to visit him. He came when I called. What a doll. I love my big yellow horse. He is just the best. When I haltered him he was pretty happy... until I asked him to MOVE now please! Oh boy oh boy sloppy transitions!! We went over to the pedestal for kicks and of course he walked right on [Mr Chicken is very proud to have ''beaten' the pedestal] and eventually over to the round pen to work on our GO means go button.

Surprisingly, given the choice, Dakota WAS walking around the outside rail of the pen. Unlike Mo who kept cutting inside to avoid the effort [dear gods.. not EFFORT!] of stepping over or jumping the cavelleti. Dakota just stepped over them [he is bigger than Mo] and actually stopped at the killer tarp covered one and enthusiastically sniffed and played with it! I was so proud of him!! Usually things like that are a huge no-go without tons of approach and retreat! Maybe some time alone has sort of made him be more self confident?

We played around, circling over the jumps at different speeds, canter was really hard to pick up [lazy] but I got a nice extendo trot, which was cool. I did get a little canter, but it was litterally little. Itty bitty strides, which looks super cute/funny on this giant horse.

Eventually I couldnt resist the itch to ride so I haltered him again and brought him over to the tree to mount. I always forget how big he actually is.. right up until I have to get on. From the log, that I would say is maybe 1 1/2 - 2 feet high, I still have to swing up a la bareback to get on. Joys of short people with tall horses.

I played with some freestyle with Kota, reminding him about listening to me and things, since he was sort of of the mind to go off on his own tangents. We met Mo, who squeeled and jumped from foot to foot [really funny, think small child having a tantrum] for no reason whatsoever. Because of his RBI-ness sometimes freestyle isnt his best suit. Perfect example being the last time he was at Auntys house - RBI to the max but we accomplished some absolutely FABULOUS finesse stuff because he wanted me to hold his hand - ie, take contact on the reins. It was so soft and flowy, but all on a concentrated rein, very cool.

Today was freestyle day though. We did some little point to points between trees. Then just weaving around them and figure eighting. Just basically follow my focus. By the end he was being really light off of my leg, which was super nice. And he was listening and paying attention.

We stopped to talk to the neighbours to, during which time he fell asleep lol.

Gotta Love Kota. He is just fabulous.

:-)
S