Wednesday, July 29, 2009
31 days boarded
20 days training
Great, great day. I did a few new things with Shane today just to get him exposed to some more things.. and it ended up being a really good day.
First of all, I wore spurs.. just blunt ones, no rowels. They really worked well. He did offer a few very tiny bucks, in protest to the sharper sensation on his side, but it was very mild, and expected. Once he realized that moving away from the pressure got rid of it, he picked up really fast.
Second of all, I let Mariah into the arena today, and kept her in there throughout the ride. Shane had to learn how to work with another horse wandering around, getting in his way, spooking.. and he did great!
Our arena work went really well. We did a lot of trot work, and a fair amount of lope work. The spurs helped sooo much, to keep him moving forward. We also worked on 'easy' today, since up until now I've been doing 'woah'. Today he learned to slow down from a trot without stopping all of the way. That stop of his is still rock solid.
Lastly.. we went on a mini trail ride! I brought Shane out of the arena and rode him down the pasture line, through tree's around obstacles, up over the hill, beside the road, down the driveway, and back.. Shane loved it. His ears were up, his head was up.. he was looking at absolutely everything, but didn't once spook. He was eager and wanted to see things, but wasn't at all bothered by what he did see.
A good day!
