Gem and Cowboy

With Chrissy in the arena, we played with Cowboy and Gemini. Chrissy wanted to start riding her horse again so I coached her for about 90 minutes. We warmed him up on the ground and then I rode him for her. Afterwards, she hopped on and started to play with 2-step yo-yo's. It was her first ride on him in many months, so a great first step.

Rode Gem a bit after Chrissy mounted. I helped her from Gemini's back, then rode him around a little in the arena when she was done.

I had Chrissy and Cowboy doing yo-yo, 2 steps, then 3. I wanted her to feel more control of him and yo-yo seemed like a good place to start. The softer she can get his backup, the more comfortable I think she'll be. She can get pretty tight when she rides him, so I was hoping just a few steps each way would help her loosen up. She seemed to relax some and wanted to do more. I talked her out of it, though. I'm trying to encourage her to respect her thresholds and reward herself when she relaxes by getting off and patting herself on the back.

Great to see her back on her horse!