Slow Week

No real mid-week post this week - I intended to go to the barn last night, but instead got roped into learning how to dance the foxtrot with one of my friends. It went better than I expected, although today there is a mysterious ache in the left side of my butt. Who knows what that's about. With the three-day weekend coming up I hope to get out to the barn daily and work Halo, as well as hopefully ride Cash at least one more time (the gelding I mentioned last week).

With Cash I would like to work more on making nice circles at the trot. He likes to drop his inside shoulder and barge through my outside leg when we pass the arena gate, and he also sometimes tries to make a break for it coming down the first long side of the arena. We made some progress last week, but it definitely needs reinforcement. It would also be nice to see if I can get a canter out of him. One thing I like a lot about him is even though he pitches his mini-fits, he's a horse who actively seeks release. As soon as he figured out that I would be much quieter with my hands and legs and stay out of his way when he went forward without any noodling, he started to seek that release.

With Halo I want to do the saddled longeing a couple more times, and maybe see if I can get her bridled once or twice more. With bridling I am determined that she will not be a horse who has to throw her head up in the air and pitch a fit every time I put the bridle on. She gets no treat until she puts her head down while being bridled, and I will not remove the bridle unless her head is lowered. Hopefully it will be less windy this weekend and there will be fewer distractions at the barn, but of course I'm not counting on it. Since we had a bad thunderstorm a couple of days ago, chances are I'm going to need to wash her tail. I've also been slowly whittling away at her mane - I decided not to let it grow long. It makes more sense to go ahead and pull it/trim it for Halter, and if I get it maintained now, it won't be such a huge pain in the ass this summer.

Hope everyone has a good long weekend!