More time with the new student...

Three days in a row for Chrissy and she's got a decent circle game going! We started learning the squeeze game, squeezing over a log. She's starting to really understand how to use her tools and communicate with Cowboy. So, we started with some grooming, then tacked up (I was getting Nina going). Chrissy is getting her horse caught, haltered and tacked up on her own now. I'm so happy!!

We went into the arena, she started going through the games and I played with Nina. Nina hasn't worn a saddle in a while, so it was nice to get her going again. She was pretty good about fly spray, too. Funny, she could manage it every except her rib and flank area.

Then, the rain started coming just as I was helping Chrissy learn to mount. So, we took it into the barn and practiced in there. Chrissy was able to get up on her own a few times, which was a great thing! She can keep working on her mounting skills and she'll be mounting herself on the trail easily. The uneven terrain will give her the added 4" or so that she needs. Now, I need to work on helping her get her own saddle! I want my saddle back! :-)

After that, I tied Nina for some time, to have her practice being tied, and started to trim Cowboy. I've let him go a little long and I had a lot of work to do. He wasn't that cooperative and I had Chrissy stand at his head with a toy, giving him something to do with his mouth. That helped a bunch, but I just had a lot of work to do. It took a while and I only got 3 hooves done. Cowboy has a long hoof naturally, and I feel like I just can't bring his toe back enough. His frog is also long, though - just a long, large hoof.

We also did a little trick-training with Cowboy in between hooves. We started to teach him to shake his head, but oddly I couldn't get his head to shake. He would bend his neck and tilt his head sideways, so I used that instead. Then, I taught Chrissy how to teach Cowboy to lift his leg. He got that in no time and Chrissy learned how easy it is to teach a horse tricks. Cool!

Anyway, have a hind to finish on Cowboy and then Nina's up for her trim.