Playing in the dark!

The weather was warm enough and I promised myself to leave my desk early and get some horsetraining time. So, at 5pm, with work half-finished, I stood up and marched out for horse time. The days are slowly getting longer so I figured I had 90 minutes.

It turned out to be very warm and calm outside, so I turned on my outside lights and stayed out until 8:30pm. I had a great time and got some fantastic things going with horses!

Tina - I started with Miss T. I'm continuing with confidence building. I'm noticing her curiosity really growing, a pleasing change! She is really starting to investigate the things I offer up quicker and with more confidence. Today, I worked on her wearing the tarp and dragging it around. We did some trailer loading and asked her to stand on my bridges and other objects. Neck, nose, maybe the feet... I'm getting the nose very quickly now! She understands when I ask her to investigate something and she's willing to check it out. She actually put some decent holes in my tarp by picking it up in her mouth and waving it around. So pleased (but need a new tarp!). Good stuff.

Nina - We practiced maintaining gait. I need her moving steadily in a circle and she still has some silly moments. We worked on COD will calm confidence. She was a little worried w/o the herd in the very beginning, but it didn't last. Her sideways is looking great and we started w/o the fence. I will continue to build her circle size for gait maintenance and will start developing transitions online. After my trip, Loma and I will begin her intense mounted training.

Zarah - We did some driving from zone 5 with 1 line. She was a little distracted at first, but eventually she could do patterns around the trees with her. Her spanish walk is coming along great and we practiced her spin. I took her into the arena and hopped on for about 20 mins of bareback riding. We practiced bridleless backup, weaving, sideways. I love her - she's become so advanced and quick to learn. She's trying hard and highly motivated by treats, I'm learning. She's a left-brained learner and needs motivation.

A great night! I was using my house flood lights and doing all this work on the side of my house. It was warm with calm air - spring is on it's way!