Today, we started by reviewing the groundwork she has learned in the last two sessions (desensitizing, sending, backing up, bending, disengaging, moving the forequarters). Then, I saddled her up (uneventfully other than a few looks as I was tightening the cinch) and we went for a short ride.
I have been told that Candy has been saddled and ridden lightly in a round pen in November 2011. She's a little confused about moving forward without someone leading her, but we'll work on that more tomorrow. She learned how to flex just yesterday, and today she is incredibly soft! Once she gets it, she's got it, and that's one of the things I really like about her. She's a thinker.
The rest of this post will be captions, because I think the photos tell a great story and show exactly how willing this wonder horse is. Many thanks to Ken Kennedy for taking these photos.
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| Ready to work! She met me at the pasture gate. |
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| Sending to the right |
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| Candy's favorite reward: a good scratch in her favorite spot! |
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| We also worked a little on picking up feet (she's not very good at this yet, but will be soon). |
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| Formulating a trim strategy |
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| This photo really shows her personality. |
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| Checking out the saddle... |
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| No drama whatsoever... I'm so impressed with the trust Candy has in humans and our crazy shenanigans! |
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| Taking a "think" break. |
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| Working on mounting and feeling weight in the stirrups/saddle. |
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| Calm as she can be... |
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| Hi there! Get on already! |
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| Changing the subject for a moment. As far as I know, Candy has never seen a ball like this before. |
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| I think she likes it! |
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| I rolled the ball right under her and she didn't even flinch. Nothing fazes this horse! |
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| And over, too. |
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| This is the first time I sat on her. |
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| She looks pretty happy herself. |
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| Disengaging hindquarters under saddle. |
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| Good girl. |
Love it! She looks really fun to work with. She's got the flexing down pat, like you said! Her eyes were on you. Looks like she'll take good care of her person. Of course, you definately are intuitive, and I'm sure she appreciates how calm and confident you are. The ears going to the sides when you challeng her is so cute and I love the ball face plant pic! LOL
ReplyDeleteMost glorious work and play! Good on you both. xo
ReplyDeleteGreat way to document her training. Are you gonna teach her to 'bow down' like your horse does? She seems calm, willing, and able.
ReplyDeleteYes, we also started on that today!
ReplyDeleteRebecca, she looks great! She is a beauty and looks great with the Red blanket!! Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteShe's absolutely gorgeous, and it looks like she has a personality to match!
ReplyDeleteYay – what a cute horse! Fantastic photos Rebecca.
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