Apple Tree

After a stick to me game in the north pasture, I played on the 45 foot line and getting Blu to think on his feet a bit and check his feel. I had him circling then I would stop him behind a log and ask him to go sideways. He wanted to step over it. When I had him straddle it, he also wanted to go forward. He circled at about 35-40 feet when we moved to another spot to circle. There was muck, but he managed fine. In this second part, there was a cone in his path. I had him stop at it. He had a ton of try going. I wanted to get his back feet to straddle it. He tried all sorts of things with that cone. I did not ask too much and I would just send him on the circle again. At one point, I had to charge at Connor and Blu just watched me, kind of sticking his tongue out at Connor (hehehe). When he got his back legs straddling it, we moved on.

I got on from a barrel and we played with the question box, waiting for willingness, and then some fluid rein. He was kind of sticky at first, but once we were going forward better, he relaxed right into the fluid rein. I hope to do some finesse in the next week or so.


Later...
Blu was tied to a tree while I warmed Misty up. I put an apple in the tree for him to find while he waited. He was much more patient while waiting. I had to leave him there alone and he watched us as we left, but he did not panic or get worried. He also did not go into an impatient pawing fit. When I came back with Misty saddled, Blu had found the apple and gotten a bite out of it, but the rest had fallen to the ground. I fed it to him when I found it. On our trail ride, he was not naughty (having evil thoughts or doing evil, dominant things to Misty) at all, though he was a bit keyed up for a while like Misty. It was a great evening.

Misty was great for saddling. As I tightened the cinch, I would give her a spearmint at her chest. Then we did stick to me to check the girth, walking, trotting, and cantering. I got on the right side from the trailer hitch. I had to work her through unconfidence about it, but within a minute, she was coming to me confidently and offering her back (she prefers to offer the left side, which she does automatically). I got her jitters out (she was FULL of it, but I felt confident riding whatever) cantering in the driveway, cantering and trotting sideways (perfectly, I might add: We did leg yields from one side of the drive way to the other as we traveled up and down it, then I did sideways down the drive way), then fluid rein (in a halter…takes longer, ended up putting her head down by touching her poll then she itched her face on her leg and did big shakes and blows). Kind of an accident, but very cool, nonetheless: I had the long longe whip/flag stick under my arm pit while I was holding the reins. I had my shoulders and ribs tilted to the side in a manner that kept the stick from hitting her butt so she was not getting conflicting aides. What do you know, she did shoulder in, mirroring my posture :D Good girl.
On the trail ride, she was going a fast walk and keyed up a bit. I made a point to wait until she and Blu were totally at peace when I ended our ride (by grazing close to the barn and walking around). It was a very nice ride—temperatures were perfect!

Natural Horsewoman Out