The Corn Maze!!

Took all 3 horses and the whole fam damily to the Hudson Corn Maze. http://www.wildwestmaze.com/index.html We had a BLAST!! I brought Gem, Rain and Zarah with Kendall riding Rain, D riding Z and me on Gem. The horses were a little worried at first. The corn is dry now and makes a lot of noise! The wind kept the corn moving and making it's noise. It's also 10 feet tall easily, so there's no looking over it. It was awesome!

Kendall had a little trouble with Rain at times, as Rain knows Kendall isn't always in charge. That's ok, KK learned some things and handled herself with a lot of maturity. D didn't try to manage a horse. He navigated the map so we wouldn't get lost and I ponied him for most the time. About half way through, I decided to switch with him and let him ride Gem. This actually worked out better because then I could manage Z and her high energy. She never truly settled in the maze. Gem and Rain were cool and calm, but Z - not so much. Z also really desires to lead when she's worried and she can be a little forceful about it. I believe that's her alpha mare mentality.

It was a great time and D loved navigating us through the maze and following the map. We agreed to go next Sunday on "dog day" with Deuce and Oscar. Really a fun time!

Training Rain

I took some time with Rain tonight, softening her up and getting her to bend into some serpentines. Delaney also rode her and helped me by doing the same exercise in the walk.

She's such a lovely horse, but I realize how much I've left her behind in my training. I really need to bring her up to the level of my other horses. We've got to lose the brace and build straightness, balance and responsibility for gait.

Delaney Joins Me!

Today, for the very first time, Delaney joined me on a trail ride. We trailered to Hidden Mesa and he did the 7.5 mile loop with me. He started out on Z and I ponied them off of Rain. Then, we switched. After a while, he really wanted me to stop ponying him and I gave him a "lesson" on communicating with Rain. For some of the trail, he was on his own and did just fine. I'm super proud and soooo excited by the possibilities of he and I covering trails together. My first thought is HORSE CAMPING! If I can get kids interested, I'll have reached true nirvana. He wants lessons and wants to learn to take care of getting down the trail with the horse alone. Very cool!

This all started by selling Gemini. He cried. He didn't want to see Gemini go and he's called Gemini "his horse" for some time now. I told him he could have his own horse if he shows initiative in the way of feeding, mucking, grooming and riding. He's gung-ho! Hopefully, I wont have to buy him a horse any time soon! He can ride Rain for a long time, really.