Saturday we went for a family trip to a tack store that is a little over 2 hours away. Of course we found lots of stuff. Did we need it? Probably not but we did stimulate the economy.

DH and Chase got new ropes, we got some mane conditioner/detangler and I got a new show headstall and a new bit for Abby.

My new headstall (reins and rein jackets still need to be ordered)



And this is the new bit I got for Chase & Abby to try.



You can read more about it here.

I've decided he needs to learn how to ride one handed since that is how the majority of the world seems to ride plus he can hold the horn if he needs to). I want to get him riding comfortably that way & then we will move to two handed riding. This doesn't mean that CA is going to the side it just means it isn't going to be the primary focus right now for him.

I'm hoping this bit gives Chase the leverage he needs w/o letting him get in her mouth too much. If it doesn't work we can always change.

When we got back I put it on Black and hopped on for a bb road ride. She went a little ways and stopped. I asked her to go and she did for a few feet and then stopped again. Then when we got to the trees she started pulling the stuff she pulled with Chase with me (turning quickly and trying to trot home) so I tried to keep her in the direction I wanted her to go. She almost backed down into the ditch but I finally got her going forward again. Not to much longer down the road she did it again. I got after her a bit harder. She decided if she couldn't go home she was going to trot. More power to her! That didn't last long.

When she finally decided I wasn't caving she started walking out nicely down the road. She's not feeling too bad! We went to the stop sign & back (all the farther I had intended on going anyways) and then we turned around. It was pretty chilly so I didn't mind. I let her trot most of the way back. I was actually a bit surprised she felt up to it.



Sunday DH and I were going to go for a ride but we weren't seeing eye to eye so I rode Abby for a few minutes in the pasture with the new bridle and then put her away (I can tell her and I are going to have to come to a consensus this spring). I told him what to expect with Black and like always she did as I expected. He didn't push her through it because he was "afraid of her falling" so he just rode her in front of the house.

We are expecting nice weather later this week so I'm hoping to get out again but for now we are still dealing with the snow John sent us.