Well, I only had one class today and got home around 10:30 AM. Fiance had dropped the baby off at the baby sitter's house for the day so we could work with Nine. We saddled Nine and introduced him to a new thing on his head, the "bitless bridle". It's basically a stiff leather ring attached to a headstall that sits around his nose. The English version of a bosal, I call it! We did some bending with that, and he was doing well, so we tightened his cinch again and I prepared to get on. However, I random got very angry and decided that the demons of my menstruation were going to get in the way. (I am sorry if that is too much information, but it's true.) I didn't want to loose my temper for no reason while atop a wild horse and get hurt! So, we took a walk. (I forgot to take off my helmet and was too lazy to take the saddle off Nine, so that's why it may seem like I am ready to hop on.)
I found a scary old flower pot and kicked it around in front of Nine until he stopped spooking. I thought that was a good experience, and he handled it well. Now when we get to Fort Worth and all the distractions, Nine might just be a bit more prepared.
After that Fiance made me a nice obstacle of tires shaped in an "L" like we will probably see in Fort Worth. I set some teeny poles along the tops of some of the tires so the shape was better defined. I know it isn't the prettiest little set up, but it served us well!
After about two tries Nine had it figured out and was backing through it almost by himself.
Then I worked with his feet a bit. He is much better about his hind feet!
And also about having his feet held between the knees, in what I call "farrier position".
It started getting ridiculously hot about this time, and Fiance was bored. I managed to talk him into taking pictures of Nine loading, though. So, I present to, in multiple picture sequence, Nine loading like a dream:
Yay! And here we are.
And now unloading:
How great is that? Thanks for reading, readers! And remember kids, safety first!
4 comments:
Christina,
Man, you and Nine have come a long way. You guys are doing great!
I'm so proud of you both. You guys look like your finally hooked up and Nine trusts you. You may only have a week left in training but horses and trainers can accomplish a lot in just a few hours. Actually when you think about it, you made faster progess than a lot of other trainers in a short amount of time, once you had extra help and time. You are going to be fine and so is Nine. You have an excellent start and working on a great foundation for someone else to step in and finish training Nine. All the mustangs wether they are doing flying lead changes under saddle or just learning to pick up their feet will need further training. As you know 100 days is really not a lot of time. It's hard to beleive these Mustangs were once wild!
Anyways, I love the pics and Nine's saftey helmet. TOOO CUTE!!!
Joan,
Thanks for the encouragement! You're right, once we got rolling we have been making leaps and bounds! It just hit, reading your comment, that Nine is going to be finished by someone else, somewhere else. I'm going to miss that horse so much...
Christina,
I'm sorry, I did not mean to make you sad. I will cry along with you at the Makeover, I love Blossom
but I can't keep her. If someone takes the time to travel to the event and purchase a Mustang than you know they will be in good hands. And It's not just you everyones horse will need further training. Hard I know, but at least we were fortunate to be picked and it has been an experience of a lifetime!!!
You're right Joan. And you didn't make me cry, Nine did! You just reminded me ;) An experience of a lifetime, for sure! I hope I can see you and Blossom there!
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