Practicing flexion and turning with Tina

Today was time with Tina. I haven't gotten the time I expected with horse development over the past week due to travel for work and weather. I wanted to put another ride on Tina to keep her progressing. She's been coming along so nicely.

It was pretty cool when I went out to the front pasture to get her and Z kept her eye on me. She walked up to see me, so I scratched her and loved on her for a bit. Then I walked away to put the halter on Tina. Z kept her eye on me the whole time. Tina and I started our long walk toward the barn (about 5 acres away) and after a minute or so, Z came trotting up behind us. She walked to the barn with us and just kind of hung around. She's always surprising me.

Tina was all in and ready to get something going. She has a marvelous work ethic and I really enjoy time with her. I tacked her up with the treeless saddle and warmed her up on the ground with some COD and touch it. Her change of direction is amazing for the little amount of time I've spent on it. She's sensitive and sensible, so as long as I'm clear, it makes sense to her. Perhaps she knows something similar from a previous trainer.

We rode in the round pen. She stood nicely for mounting and we practiced lateral flexion then turning and disengaging the hind. I'm looking for softness and teaching her to feel the cue from my body and seat before I use the reins. At this point, we're still in a rope halter and I'm thinking to start with the bit in the next week or two. I'll have her wear it while we do ground work and riding in the rope halter a few times before I attach reins to it and ask for responses. I expect she'll be fine with the bit, though.

When we were done, I took her in and did some trimming on the front hooves. I'll get the back done in the next few days. The front right is coming along very nicely! The front left is a different story. The front left has a very flat sole and grows wide. I'm working on some solar concavity, but the sole isn't thick - the collateral grooves are shallow. I didn't need to take much wall off and I'll just keep at it.

She did great with the whole thing tonight - ground work, tacking up, riding and trimming.

When I first came out to get started tonight, I noticed Rio was injured. I assume he got caught in the barbed wire. He'd torn his chest and legs a little (minor scrapes), but had a good gash in his shoulder. I talked with the owner and I really thought he needed stitches. My vet wasn't available so we agreed to wait until morning. He stayed in a stall and run for the night - not his favorite thing. He's a more nervous horse and gets a lot of his confidence from the herd. He's better off in the run, but he sure was worked up about it.