Trimming Nina and Liberty with Gem

Started off with Gem. I walked out to the herd with Chrissy and decided as I walked out who I would play with. Cowboy, of course, is the first to greet us. Then, Gem and Nina. I also heard from Rain and Z, both curious if I was worth paying attention to or not. I got the usual sniff and "hey, tia, how's it going" before everyone went back to grazing. I asked Gem to catch me and he did, with ease. We walked back and I played with ideas in my head of what to build on with Gem and what to show Chrissy to help her grow.

I groomed him, tacked him up and took him to the roundpen for some liberty. He and I haven't done much liberty. I thought to try to develop more of his responsibility on the circle in the roundpen. I swear, once he again he impressed me immensely. We worked on stick to me, the allow on the circle, and change of direction (a little). He had a moment when he thought about bucking, but it was only barely more than a thought and it didn't last.

He got a little unconfident when I asked him to stick to me on the left (with me on his right). I know he's much more accustomed to people on his left - as in traditional horsemanship. However, he was quickly learning that he would be ok while I asked him to play with me on his Indian side. I found a great place to quit and he did a lot of licking and chewing and relaxing.

Then, I helped Chrissy some by teaching her how to lift all 4 hooves from one side and how to hold a hoof. I also started helping her learn to halter from her knees. She's nearly ready to assess out of level 1. That would be a good thing for her and Cowboy - time to move on. She's had about 6 sessions with him and she's understanding things nicely. She's gaining confidence every day and Cowboy is really being a great partner for her. She's officially calling herself a Parelli student!

Then, I got miss Nina ready for a trim. I'm trying to use my rasp more and my nippers less. I like the nippers, I get more done quicker. The problem is I'm not always happy with what I have at the end of it. The rasp allows be to be more in control of what I'm taking off. For now, at least, I'm better off rasping only. I have to get better with nippers.