Video with Z and Rain

Had a FANTASTIC session with Z today! Don't know why... I've been spending a ton of time with her. We did liberty in the arena and she was great. We did some close circle at the trot and just some good 7 games. I also practiced a backwards circle and the spin. The spin is looking really good. We are going to start speeding it up. I also practiced mounting bareback and bridleless and I've got that down too. Z stands nice and still for me. Things were going so well, I asked Steve to come out and get some video for me.

We got mounting, saddling and bridling as well as some nice liberty. The horses had moved out of site and she left me a few times at liberty. She came back quickly and ears forward, so hoping it looks ok on the video. Here's Z standing nicely for me while I bareback mount and stand on her back.



Then, I grabbed Rain for some time to see how she's doing. She didn't want to hit the trail alone and I don't blame her. I don't spend much time with her and I haven't ridden her alone in months. So, I rode her around the property. I just asked for different things and she's developed such a brace from being the "beginners horse". Darn it. At one point, Chrissy was working on groundwork with Cowboy and asked me to come over and help. She's trying to figure out the catching game right now as well as developing more feel and the ability to read Cowboy. I helped coach her and then I wanted to show her with Rain.

See, Rain and I had broken roundpen work. I had it very broken at the end of L2, the same point where I switched to Z about 2 years ago. I've never really gone back and fixed it with Rain. I was interested to see how it would go, as well as showing Chrissy how I handle it when my horse doesn't stick to me. Rain, as I expected, did not stick to me. What was amazing whas that 2 years of developing my horsemanship has changed me quite a bit. Within about 5 mins, Rain was bolting off... she was relaxed and sticking to me. It was pretty cool.

I played the catching game with Nina too, to demo for Chrissy. Nina didn't really know what I was doing, but she caught on quickly too. My skills have really grown. Neat.

Chrissy made some good changes and she's progressing so well. Proud of her.