Under Saddle

(Please check back in a few days, this post is a work in progress. I just couldn't wait to get the photos posted. ;-)

Yesterday, Guinness & I participated in a bonus playday - we snuck away from our usual Monday responsibilities and went to a friend's farm instead.

- My friend, Tenley from WV, and her draft horses, Thunder & Augie, spent the night at my house and came too.

- Monday morning, I grabbed Guinness and invited him to immediately jump onto the trailer for his breakfast & then wait for me to finish loading everything.

- Though we hurried a bit to get going, once we got there we took things slow! Good grooming, tacking up, controlled catastrophe with tying to trailer. (Note the "tie ring" to permit rope to slip.) I'm getting him used to my usual plan for an excursion..

- Once we arrived, he was pretty concerned about the scary guinea hens & peafowl inside a huge geodesic dome aviary.

- We all practiced precision leading (holding lead at about 2' length).

- Then we tried a stick-to-me exercise at Liberty with group - just like at Carol Coppinger's clinic. What a great partnership exercise!!

- Lunch break - Guinness to shady trailer with hay and a view vs. hanging with other horses.

- After lunch, we tacked back up and rode. This was Guinness' first time mounted using a saddle! I rode for about 10 minutes (max), at the walk & halt.

- We were having such fun that we didn't leave until dark. Thank you for hosting, Diane! :-)