Houdini has LEFT the Building!

Ivy went home last night! Yey!!

At home I had grabbed Mo and put her on the trailer so Ivy would have company - and hopefully a calming effect - and then went out to my aunts to fetch her. Mo was amazing, a total trooper, just standing there waiting on the trailer!

Ivy loaded really well. I didnt rush her, just sort of asked her to investigate and she curious'ed her own self onto it. Indy was grazing in the bakcyard while all this was going on, she didnt care at all. Once in the trailer before we started moving Ivy had a little mini panic attack, but it was more of a WHERES MOM than claustrophobia, so it was to be expected.

For about one and a half kilometers of the drive Ivy was prancing around but then she settled down and stood super quietly. Of course in my head I am thinking "OMG... shes being QUIET... is she dead?!?" But when I pulled into her new home [my neighbours house] she looked at me all bright and clever when I opened the door. Quite pleased with herself I think.

She unloaded like a total pro, while Mo stod and was an angel! We let her go in her new paddock and she fancied around with her extended Freisian trot, showing off to us while we watched. She made nice with her new family - Tia and Crockett - and prowled her perimeter.

Everything went great when we let them out together, until they cornered her - not even really crowding, just a little close - and she got concerned and squeaked through the electric fence. The fence has a three second delay so we think she didnt get shocked. Luckily, Ivy is super people oriented and was a breeze to catch. We just put them all back together and shooed them into the bigger pasture.

My pasture borders theirs, so of course Kota was doing his own personal brand of fireworks, running and bucking and carrying on, trying to see who the newcomer was. So pretty....ermm.. handsome?

When everything settled down I took Mo back to Aunty's because her girth sores have healed so I can ride in a saddle again... my home time Liberty really sort of flopped... I feel to restricted at home.. not enough space .... I want to play at liberty in my round pen and then go play out in a thirty acre feild! I love having so much room at Auntys. It really is ideal - theres a riding ring, a small pasture, a BIG pasture, trails and access to tons of giant hayfields just at the end of the laneway! Talk about PERFECT! Mo likes being there to I think, and going on adventures with me.

So now Ivy is gone, Indy is pleased and Mo is back in at Auntys. Very productive evening overall!

:-)
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

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

... or will eventually win the race. Same difference!

Last night I played with Indy because I 'missed' her. Seems silly, I see her every day, I bring her in with Ivy every day for dinner, but I still felt like I hadnt seen her in an eon! It was the most bizarre thing. So, my intention for the evening set, I was pleased to see every one in and around the shed.

When I went out the back gate I was confronted with Mo's bum, Tripp, Tucker and Crystal all looking at my from their tail swishy congregation. I was amused by the "OH HAI!" looks from all of them. Mo even turned around to come say hi when I got close enough to rub her bum. I could see Indy was just five steps past this little group so I waved at her and she looked at me all bright. Mo, in the mean time, moseyed herself over to the gate and looked at me like "Ok, Im ready!" I felt sort of bad that I wasnt there to play with her, so I gave her extra hugs and a treat later.

Indy sort of bodily shoved her way through the little herd blocking her path to come say hi. That was nice. Ivy came to of course. I used my body blocks to keep curious Ivy's out of my space [and out of the nibble zone!] and focused on Indy. She looked pleased with that as I rubbed her all over and said my hellos.

When I brought the halter up and grabbed the head piece over her neck she braced. Not huge, but enough that I felt it and saw it. And then when I tried to bring her head down and around to halter she just sort of went "Cant do it" and got all tense. How interesting. I just waited with her, doing little bits of head down, head over etc until she could move it. Last night was all about takng the time it takes with her. She flits so fast between introvert and extrovert that sometimes I miss it, but last night was DEFINATLEY an introverted day. And I made that extra super effort to g o s l o w l y for her. It was SUPER hard for me [used to Mo's demonic brain] to slow down and not push her. Great practice though!

About ten minutes passed before I had permission to halter her. For a while when I asked her head to move over she was like "Ok, I will move my whole front end over to you" but that was ok, because Dakota used to do that to, so I was able to refine my request to just tipping her nose my way. When she did finally understand that, or just acknowledge that she knew what I was asking - since we do this EVERY time and sometimes she 'plays dumb' and sometimes she doesnt - it still took more time for her to keep her nose there when I brought the halter up. Interesting! Mo went through a phase of that to - "Ok my nose is over here" "Thanks, heres the halter" "Oh no, I changed my mind, I dont want it" and turn the nose away, just a little.

I am not 100% sure what it was, if it was confidence or just playing with me, but I went even slower and just waited for her, and lo and behold, when she finally acceded my request to halter her, she licked and chewed!!! This, from a horse who I have been concerned that I never see her licking - even secretly! So it boded well for our session I think :-)

After haltering her I rubbed her a lot, letting her know that was an awesome thing for her and then bent down to check on some new scrapes on her leg. Indy is quite the klutz, new scrapes pretty often. I read today that emotional coordination = physical coordination, so it makes me wonder whats going on in her head.

Even getting from our spot outside the run in shed, 20 feet from the gate into the barn was a learning experience. I am discovering that Indy has very little self confidence. No, let me rephrase that, because some times she DOES have lots of confidence. Last night she had very little self confidence at the start. It was really interesting! Standing at her zone two ish, where I had been scratching her, I upped my life and asked her to move forwards [towards the barn gate] She turned and looked at me and then shifted her weight forwards and then looked at me again with a "thats as much as I can do" look.

I took that moment to do a big HOW INTERESTING in my head. I was asking her to go first, away from the herd and she could give me only a weight shift! WHOA! It wasnt a 'nanner nanner make me' type of thing either, it was an 'I cant go more than this without you in front' type of thing. So we played with that. It took us ten minutes for her to work up and over to the gate. She went from weight shifts to one step forwards [and then two back to come back to me] to finally trying three steps forwards and sufficing with me scratching and rubbing her backside. And then in one brilliant flash of self confidence, she walked herself over to the gate, lined up to go in, looked at me and licked and chewed, looking positively shining. She looked so PROUD of herself for figuring out the puzzle, and grateful that I hadnt pushed her. Whoo hoo for both of us!!

By that time I was sure that I was doing the right thing by going slow with her. She just looked so happy and thankful. I opened the gate and invited her into the barn and waited for Ivy to tag along. Ivy trotted along into their stall. I tried backing Indy down the aisle a bit to see what would happen and she went back on phase ONE! Yey! We backed down to their stall, where she tried to go in, so I had to gently dissuade her from that course. I tied her to the stall rails then ansd sort of just hoped she knew how to tie... I havent really tried tying her before now! But she was a star and I went into the stall to 'catch' Ivy - which realistically just involves me walking through the stall door - and halter her for HER first tying lesson. I tied her beside Indy, but far enough away that I would have room to groom that side of her without Ivy nibbling on me. VERY LBE that baby...

Ivy was a star and Indy looked thrilled that I was going to primp her. She loves being pretty. Such a diva. She relaxed right into the combing, while I detangled her mane, and when I brought out the body brush she was totally enthused with it when I let her check it out. She kept wuffleing her nose across it and nuzzling it, it was super cute that she was so interested in the brush! When she was all shiny clean I brought out the saddle and pad, just in case we got to riding and were waaay out in the new arena.

When I got ten feet from her she went from happy excited to dead. Umm... ??? So I stoped and backed up slowly until she looked at me. When she did she was all happy excited again and licking like crazy. HOW INTERESTING! This time when I approached she kept her happy look AND investigated everything [a first] up to and including taste testing the girth! Cool!!

When I saddled her she was a rock star, and when I tightened the girth she looked at me like "what do you need that for?" So I gave her a treat. Boy she liked that!! All finished up in the barn I switched to a 22', grabbed my carrot stick and we all trooped to the gate. I squeezed Ivy out first and let her go, shooing her away a bit so she wouldnt just barrel back into the barn, and then I squeezed Indy out, who was a total pro. I disengaged her super softly, and she looked at me with that bright eyed happy look again. I love that look. I would do anything to gget that look from her. Its just total trust and belief that I am doing right by her. [The whole time I was grooming Indy, Mo was sulking at the gate so I gave her some treats before asking her to move so I could get out]

Once outside I backed Indy away from the gate and through the minor mud puddle that collects there after rain. She got a little stuck at one point, so I did a loooooooooooooooooooooooong phase one and got to 3 before she was unstuck, but stayed at one for the rest of the backing. Insteresting! Once on dry ground I asked her to come in to me but she drifted towards the horses in the shed. Hmm.... I softly asked her to sideways back the other way but she got offended and sort of said NO and started a minor flight back and forth between where I wanted her to be and where she wanted to go.... how interesting. I finally changed tactics [was trying to interrupt] and backed up, trying to draw her in. WELL NOW!! If I didnt get that "You rang?" look that Casper give Pat and have her walk energetically right up to me...... HUH! So that left me standing there jaw hanging open for a while while I re-collected my thoughts and game plan.

I still dont know exactly what happened. Whatever it was, it was good! We just hung there a bit, Indy licked a lot, until I felt ready enough to continue. This time, when I backed her out and offered her forwards [out to the feild forwards, not to the shed] she walked off confidently and licking while she walked. How interesting! As she walked, I thought. I changed the game into a falling leaf game at the trot, keeping to phase one and two gently until she picked up the trot. When she had a fast walk and forward intention to trot I relaxed my ask and she picked up the most wonderful swinging trot!! OOooooOOHHHHH!!!! How interesting!!! My brain was on overload, and we hadnt even reached the play area yet!

I changed the game back to driving as we came up to the obstacles and asked Indy to go over the little pole on the ground between the barrels. Hmm... well, Ms. Klutz took out the barrel, nearly tripping and falling flat on her face instead. I retreated, and asked her to try again, and this time she tripped over the OTHER barrel... huh?!?! So I changed the game. I made it a figure eight around and between the barrels. WELL! That was even worse!!! She tripped, she ran into barrels, she got confused. So I stopped and thought. I thought I was going slow. I really was trying. But I stopped, and when I started again I went even slower. If thats possible. And THATS when we got two passably good, non life threatening figure eights. I was ecstatic. Indy was pleased with herself, and we chose that moment to hoof it back to the barn to dredge out the one thing I had forgotten - BUG SPRAY!! All the little black flies were swarming and driving me nuts.

I left Ivy outside while I rubbed Indy down with bug repellent - and myself - and then we were back 'on the road again' as it were. We played around in the dirt area just in front of the barn, past the muck a bit, the flies were less there. Indy offered me some amazing and soft sideways without a fence. When we both felt ready, I changed my 22' reins into a hackamore style and mounted up [from the ground! whoo me!] I just sat still for the longest time, waiting for a question from Indy. I must say, it is seriously the hardest thing for me to just hurry up and wait. I am 'used' to Mo, whose wait time is about thirty seconds on a bad day. Mo is always so ready for the next thing, that is a challenge to slow it way down for Indy. I have to remember that all through the winter I was doing little blurbs with Mo, nothing big and major like now, just little bits to help her grow to where she is now - thats what I need to do with Indy. So we sat.

She finally asked me a question, she turned her head and looked at me like 'Well? Arent you going to do anything?" So I gave her a treat. OH BOY! She liked that a LOT!! When she finished munching I upped my life and squeezed a little and we set off.... towards to shed... I had my carrot stick this time. Last time I rode, I found some brace when I directed her in the halter, so I brought the carrot stick this time to direct. MY oh my... if she didnt try to push right through that to! She nearly ran us into a pole before relenting and accepting that I might have a clue what I am asking for. Of course I was using my legs to turn to, but that seems to mean nothing to her yet, but no worries, it will. I still remember when Mo had no clue either... wasnt that long ago! [ I apologize for all the Mo references, but Mo is the only other young horse I have started... so shes my launch point]

When we finally got turned around in the right direction, I picked on of the paths the horses had worn in the yard to head out to the 'arena'. Really, I was aiming for the telephone pole that, to me, denotes the start of my play ground. Point to point style. I remember Linda saying one time it took Allure 200 some odd corrections to walk a straight line the first time, and I must say, I now know some of what she felt. Indy was just everywhere. I didnt pick up my reins to micromanage her, I just directed her with the carrot stick when my legs didnt work. You should have seen the crazy serpentine we had going. When we FINALLY got to the pole though she stopped on energy down, so that was fairly cool! I was pretty surprised about that.

Again more waiting. .... and waiting.... until she finally asked me a question and I gave her a treat again. When she was finished with that I picked a new point as the black barrel [there are three plastic blue ones and one black metal one] More winding paths, but we got there! More waiting and more treats. Her questions were coming quicker this time. Ivy was somewhere behind us, so instead of risking her getting worried about her, I turned her this time and picked Ivy as our point. That went great because Ivy was 'on the way to the barn'. I had to pick up my reins a little to stop at Ivy, so we worked on our 9-step backup at the same time.

And so my point to point went. We aimed back to the telephone pole, question came faster, as did the treat, and then I aimed for the other telephone pole which she *almost* trotted to. Even better time on questions for that one. And then, in a crowning Indy-moment, when we returned to our original telephone pole, she LICKED AND CHEWED right away! YEY! She was getting it!! we ran our course [and by ran, I mean walked] one more time, with lots more licking and thinking, before heading back to the barn. There is one random tire somehow in the front of the gate, off to the side, about fifteen feet from the gate.

Of course Indy wanted to charge right up to the gate, so I decided we needed to put a foot in the tire. What a challenge that was!! Indy finally got it, stomped on the tire proudly [close enough to in it] and I jumped of and have her a big hug while she thoughtfully licked and chewed while I ran up my stirrups.

When I got them both back into the barn, I tied Indy to the stall rail of her stall, but in the aisle and put Ivy inside the stall with the door closed. Last time I did this Ivy freaked out, but this time she was a trooper and was really good while I untacked Indy! Indy was awesome for untacking. I was surprised to see sweat under the girth on such a cool day when all we did was walk ... but that makes me think that maybe her emotions get up when she rides, and thats why it took so long to think about the point to point pattern. How interesting!!

After she was all untacked I put her in her stall to get her dinner and that was that. Leading her out after she ate went really well, and really softly, even for Ivy, so I was really happy with that.

Reading this you might think " well she didnt do anything? Just walked around" but you would be wrong. I DID SO MUCH!! Indy is such a challenge for me, in that I need to control ME more and s-l-o-w waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down for her. IF I can ever get it right for her, I can guarentee she will give me 150% of her heart. The onus is on me now to figure it out for her... I feel like I am on the right track for her after this session though.

:-)
S

Cameras and Horses

Last night my goal was to take some pictures of my playing.. but instead I got distracted by all the pretty ponies and ended up just going on a photo hunt. I played a little with Indy - but with the ulterior motive of getting some "in motion" shots.... [ for all visit http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=983321&l=bf94a&id=506582099 ] These are the results:

Playing in the Storm

Like any sensible person during a highly humid day, when the rain began I headed out to play. The thunder only started later, and there was no lightning, so I wasnt to concerned! It was warm, it was dark[ish] and it was raining, not to hard and not to soft. Ironically, the 3.5 seconds I spent in the barn retrieving some treats, the rain tempo increased dramatically and poured buckets - until I was ready to step outside to go visit the horseys.

Mo was actually with the rest of the herd on the far side by the tree line that separates the pasture from the neighbours. I walked over there, amused by my dry foot-prints in the top-moist sand. I got about 20 feet away before she deigned to notice me and walk over. Mo was thrilled I had come all the way out to see her just to feed her! I scratched her some, rubbed her belly, swatted mosquitoes and then walked away. Behind me I hear a discreet "thud thud thud" and turned in time to see Mo [seeing me see her] try to look like she was just browsing grass. I kept walking a bit more and hear more footsteps, so I stop without looking back and all of a sudden there is a Mo at my shoulder! Cool!

I loved on her a bit more before walking away, and this time she realized I wasnt hoarding treats so she returned to finding her own. Crystal on the other hand approached me! She walked right up and stuck out her nose to smell me. I stuck out my hand to be sniffed and sniffed did I be! Her little [thoroughbred] nose scuttled all across my hand, by arm and up and down my body twice before her curiosity was satisfied. I thought it was pretty funny! I dont usually pay much attention to Crystal, because she is not my horse. I spent some time with her though. Finger combing some of the tangles in her mane and scratching some bug bites. She loved that!

I eventually walked away from her and she actually followed me a short distance where we stopped and made nice once more. Her head got lower and lower, until she was determined to investigate my boot. She snuffled it. She licked it. She pushed it. Then, in a really slow, methodical way, she opened her mouth and tried to bite it. At that point [while laughing in a mildly hysterical manner] I blocked her and asked her not to eat my shoes [please]

Some more scratching time later I walked away and said hi to King, the smallest pony in the field. He is so cute, I just cant resist his itty bitty little ears. Mo saw this though and came over to make him leave so I would scratch her instead. She gets jealous so easily! Once King had be removed though, she lost interest in me and walked away. I followed her lead and walked myself back into the barn.

My intention last night had been to play with Indy, and now that I was thoroughly moistened anyways, I figured why not. I grabbed her halter, but exchanged a 12' rope for a savvy string in case of lightning [so my twisted logic tells me] Indy was waaay at the bottom of the pasture with Ivy and Candy. When I was about 50 feet away she 'saw' me and actually came over to say hi, almost. About two feet away she went "Oh no.. cant do it.. sorry... "and dove right and went for grass. Ivy on the other hand pranced her midget bum right up to me all bright and shiny to say hi. She looks a bit daft right now all shedding out. Cant be helped!

I walked over to Indy and she looked up at me from her grazing, so thats a good sign. She also turned her head for haltering, so that was a real nice thing. From there I went into a porcupine challenge mode. Can your hindquarters move? Well.... sort of, but ONLY if you are really really sure.... and then I will take only two steps and then one back towards you. How interesting. Can your forehand move? Sort of... but 'over' gets mistaken for forwards... Can you move backwards off of halter and chest pressure? YES! YEY!

Some of this is Indy's horsenality going "Nanner nanner I'm bigger than you" but a lot of it is just that I tend to under play the porcupine game and havent done much with Indy since her pregnancy left her pretty uncomfortable as is. I plan to play with her a lot more as the summer wears on and Ivy grows up.

After porcupine 101 I went into Lateral Flexion 101. This was really interesting. Flexion came really easily with a lot of licking and chewing to the right. To the left it seemed like everything was a brace! No licking, just brace. I waited for one little try and then filed it away to play with another day.

I started to play a little game of stick to me after that. Just walking, stopping and backing. *Usually* when I try to back like that with Indy she tries to turn and face me. Not last night! We actually achieved moderate success at this activity! I was super proud of her! We moseyed in circles and straight lines all around until we ended up at some barrels nera the barn. I asked Indy to do something with them and she chose to put a foot on them after investigating with her nose. Pretty cool!

We played with that for a while, with her crawling all over the barrels several times before I set them up right into a figure 8 pattern and asked her to go through that way. The required a lot of thinking on her part, but she got it really fast and tried really hard! After accomplishing that pattern I changed it up and stood on a barrel asking for a circle. My goal was to get her to bend around the barrel. She didnt bend overmuch, but she did go around and she did offer herself for a ride. It was so sweet!

I couldnt say no, so I slid on with my one rein and off we went - two steps to practice our lateral flexion. A big surprise here was that lateral flexion mounted was SUPER EASY! How interesting!!! She flexed to both sides like she did it every day, and totally didnt care when I threw the string over her head. Whoo! We walked all the way to the end of the pasture and back to the gate, just getting in sync with each other. Ivy was carovting and cartwheeling circles around us the whole time.

At the gate I dismounted and unhaltered Indy. She was awesome and I am very proud of her. Just a small session, but you gotta start somewhere! Lots of hugs and scratches later, I got her dinner and everyone settled in for the night.

I am very glad I played in the rain!

:-)
S