I have been training my horses on patterns and the results have been very positive. Mr. Tay is getting much softer and very sensitive to my body cues. He still challenges me with his whoa and go but his stops have gotten soooo good now that they are turning into sliding stops. Of course now I need to be extra careful with my seat or all of a sudden we are stopped in the middle of the pattern.

Then there’s Ms. Winnie….well what a willing, sensitive more confident horse when she is on the pattern. This one particular pattern was the first time I was able to ride a controlled comfortable canter on her. She was absolutely amazing! But even though it felt really good I knew it was still very hard for her when she started yawning and yawning when we stopped in the middle. I have done very little cantering on her because she was never mentally/emotionally collected enough to do one and stay in it. Training horses is so rewarding when you start to feel that harmony between horse and human.

You know I think I could write about Ms. Winnie’s progress almost every day because that’s what it seems like is PROGRESS every day! She has never really been known for interacting with other horses unless she is in heat of course so I was somewhat shocked the other day when I saw her and Mr. Tay grooming each other. Normally she would just turn her butt at him and be ready to kick if needed. And just the other night I was playing with her nose and again she lightly pawed letting me know she was confused but she didn’t leave. I’m so enjoying how interactive she has become and now we are putting in some time trail riding so she can build more confidence out on the trails. Squeezing through the bush and trees has gotten way better but we are still working on gates, other horses and staying connected which will come when she realizes we are a herd of two.

Oh My Gosh what another great level of connection! Mr. Tay and I are now working on some bridle-less riding in the round pen. It ended up being an easier progression than I expected. First time in the round pen I took his halter off, climbed the fence which he quickly sidled up to and let me on and then we were off doing transitions. Being our first time we started with some walk stop transitions until I felt confident we had our stops then we were off doing trotting and cantering transitions. Of course I had to try this bareback! Forequarter turns were amazing, hindquarter turns needed work and sideways was amazing as well. Things went so well I made it a short 15min. lesson then haltered him from his back, opened the gate and back to the barn we went.

You know most times it’s ourselves that aren’t ready for the next step yet our horses were ready way before us. So maybe just try the next step and I wouldn’t be surprised if your horse thanked you for it. Check out this short video of us trying it out!

Oh to know when to quit when you are working with your horse. Many horses know all too well how humans are direct line thinkers. We have limited time, want to get the task done and then of course do it one more time because…well…it went so good…right? If we only knew when to stop every day would be a good horse day. Mr. Tay is giving me so much at liberty now that our sessions are sometimes only 15 or 20min. and we end on a really good note. The sessions are quick, provocative and he knows he gets to graze afterwards. I’ve been setting our sessions up for a “thinker” and he knows there’s something in it for him so he is giving so much more.

It sure has been a busy week working with Mr. Tay. We’ve been working on some Liberty (no lead rope) training in the round pen. Now Mr. Tay is a real thinker with an attitude of “Yeah you and what army is going to get me to do that!” Liberty has always been one of our challenges however I learned what is called a shoulder draw and it has made all the difference for our Liberty which was pretty much non-existent. I shot a little video of us practicing a week ago and I’m happy to say there has been progress since this video and our connection is getting stronger. Still get the “Forget You!” attitude at times but it’s getting better. When you start to get this it’s such an amazing feeling of connection that words just can’t say enough. Hope you enjoy our little video!