Busy Day

Today, Guinness & I met a L3/4 friend and her mare at the stable where she boards.

We both started off playing at liberty in the arena. Guinness took the opportunity to run around like a spaz while my friend protected her herd of two. Once he rejoined me, he was much more settled and focused!

After that, we played online. He could do about 3 laps at a walk on the 22' before succumbing to the gravitational pull that my body seems to have on him.. But it is improving!

We also played with sideways using a very strong focus on a distant object and doing what I needed to do to correct him without taking my eyes from the object or leaving my straight line. He was truly confused at first, but then seemed to get it. Afterward, he wasn't licked or chewing, but did seem to be holding his breath, so my friend suggested that I squat down. As soon as I did, he let out a big sigh and licked like mad. Wow, that would have been easy for me to have blown past..

Next, I rode him using the bareback pad and carrot stick. We played with me having a strong focus and it really helped our steering. I need to practice this much more when riding alone at home.

As if this wasn't enough, we decided to hook up my friend's Brenderup trailer to my truck to test drive before hauling to the ACTHA ride this weekend. Then, since we were ready to roll, we decided to haul the horses over to the local national forest area to trail ride. She'd never been there before, so it was a treat.

We made it back to her barn seven hours after I arrived this morning. Whew! I switched trailers and hauled Guinness home (along with a fresh roundbale in the bed of the pickup). He had 4 trailer trips just today! This was his first straight-load outing with another horse on board and they both did great. I think that we are all set for Friday's trip.