Bit, Saddle and all!

I’m sure ya’ll are going to get tired of reading this, but this is my way of tracking what I have/haven’t done w/the horses. With the clinic coming up I really want to be able to look back and go “oh yeah, I did have that problem” or “guess I never really worked on that”.

Last night was nice out (65*) but tonight is supposed to be a lot nicer (78*) so I asked DH if he’d be willing to switch nights. He agreed to it so I planned on just taking the headstall off of Cat and calling it a night (I left it on her all day yesterday so she could get used to the bit). We all went out to the farm and I got the horses up while DH and Chase shot their bows in the backyard. Ty was busy trying to find George. Feeding turned into brushing and the next thing I knew DH was down in the barn with me brushing his horse.

I can’t eve begin to tell you how much hair came off of that little pony! She is a shedding fiend! After brushing Nikki I decided to take Lu out to do a little LFR and to see how her back end coordination was this year compared to last. I was VERY please with what I saw and how she acted. She is moving so much better! The only “issue” we had was that she got stuck in reverse at one point in time. The biggest problem with that is that she can go just as fast in reverse as most horses can go in drive! I did some more LFR and draw to me exercises and then did some good old lunging on a hill just to start building muscle.

Molly was out in the field and thought she could come to me while I was working Lu. BIG MISTAKE! Lu was not about to let her in her hula hoop space! She gauged her speed on the circle to speed up/slow down in order to try to get to Molly at just the right time. Good thing Molly isn’t completely stupid or I’d be down a dog.

DH was in a good mood so I asked if I could saddle up Cat and do a few min w/the bridle on. He agreed so off I went to get her. She saddled well (ground tied). I did a bit of RP w/her to get her feet moving and brought her in on several occasions to tighten up her cinch. After finally getting it snug I sent her back out. She “rolled” her back a bit so I made her hustle her feet. I really have to laugh at her rolling her back because it is the most half assed attempt to crow hop I’ve ever seen.

She RP’d wonderfully (couldn’t tell you when I did it last). Watching her move and listen to me reminded me of why I bred Tuff. I mounted up and flexed w/the bridle. She tossed her head at first but it only took a minute before she was soft as butter! I have to hand this one to CA – she is the SOFTEST horse I have ever started! Still a bit stiffer to the right vs. the left but was doing a lot better with that by the end of the session as well. I stayed at a walk and did ORS and flexing. She was a good girl so we ended on a good note.

We are heading over to the arena again tonight so hopefully I can do some ORS at the w/t/c w/the bit.