Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Breaking through barriers with Gem

Best ride with gem on the trail yet! Took him alone to Hidden Mesa and made it to the bridge. I believe this was #5 for solo riding with Gem at Hidden Mesa. It was the furthest we've gone and he was such a good boy!

Rode him at home first and it seemed like it wasn't going to be a great day. He went to bucking in the arena just before I rode. He had energy and wasn't very compliant in the beginning. I decided after playing around the property a bit that I was bored of riding at home and since I was on my staycation, decided to just load him up and drive away. He was saddled already, why the heck not!? I was so glad I did.

When we returned, I rode Starlet a bit and coached Chrissy. Today we worked on simply backing up. She was more tense today for some reason. So, again, I felt like knowing that she can stop him and back him would make her feel more confident. I decided to teach her to stop him and back him bridleless. It seemed like a good time to open her eyes to the power of her seat. I think she was quite surprised that she could do it and she had some great, soft moments with her horse. She didn't stay on as long today. I hope it's not because she did too much the previous session.

Starlet and I just played with Chrissy, practiced more lateral flexion and worked on bridleless backing. She got a little agitated at one point and needed to move forward. I obliged and trotted her around a bit. She settled again and we got back to helping Chrissy out. I'm really enjoying Starlet!

No comments: