Mount your horses, please!

Friends

I came home inspired to ride after seeing Ruben this weekend. Of course, I've got a pasture full of two year olds, so no riding for me. However, Quiet Storm was certainly in need of some additional ground work, so I picked on her.

Now that Jet and Sunny can go out into the pasture, I can bring Quiet Storm into the paddock for some training sessions, and saddling is one of those lessons that needs learning. She'd had the saddle sitting on her back before, but never tightened up. Darling and I saddled her up for the first time on Thursday, tight girth and all, and she behaved herself beautifully.

So now that I was inspired, I went outside and began asking her to flex and give, pivot on the front and back, and back up. She was pretty darned good at it; she keeps her hind end planted when pivoting on the hindquarters and crosses over nicely with her front legs.

And since she did it so well so quickly, there wasn't much else to do, so I grabbed the saddle. About this time Darling came out of the house and wondered (for the bazillionth time) when she'd finally be able to ride her horse.

Now, as I said, Quiet Storm is just two. Darling knows that it'll be at least a year before much light riding happens, but I did tell her she'd be able to mount up later this summer and perhaps take a walk around the paddock or field. However, when I answered her question with, "As soon as you get your helmet on," she was just a wee bit surprised!

Which means we've entered a new phase of training here. Darling is learning now how to make Quiet Storm move and respond from the ground so that when she mounts up and really begins to ride, the horse will know what's expected. In the meantime, an occasional trip around the paddock will fill her need to get on her horse as well as start a foundation of trust in Quiet Storm.

I love you, too!

Of course...I'm still without a steed to fulfill my desires to ride...

Extreme Mustang Makeover

Jet is coming along nicely enough considering the lack of time I've spent with her. Between the non-stop northwest rains and putting up new fences, not to mention my late in the year lambing, I've not done much with her. However, I just came inside from spending a few moments hanging on her, running my hand down her front legs, and scratching her neck. She loves having her neck scratched right there at the crest where her mane grows out, and while scratching there she allows me also to scratch back on her hip. She's just a bit over sensitive to touch, so leaning up against her side today while scratching was a stretch for her. But she's just so danged sweet that her biggest protest is to lift her head up and back away from whatever is bothering her. Not a determined back, just enough to let you know she's not entirely comfortable with the situation.

I've been checking out a few of the Extreme Mustang Makeover websites. These folks have gotten their horses shortly after I brought Jet home, so it'll be interesting to see how they progress as I work with her. Of course, their horses are three and four year olds, and Jet is only two, so saddle work isn't a big issue for me like it will be for them. Here's one of the contestants for you to check out: Otter B Good. I'll try to post a new one every so often so you can see what's going on out there in the mustang world. This is something I'd like to give a try at some point...quite the challenge, though!

Today, Darling and I are headed to a clinic with Ruben Villasenor, of Horsemen's Western Dressage. We missed the first day because I had the Farmer's Market, but hopefully we'll be able to glean a bit today.