Jasper: March 12 (Final Update)

First, I must say how much I will miss having Jasper here! He's become the go-to lately! On Sunday, I got a wild hair to put Jasper in a bridle & romal reins to see how he would ride one-handed. As I mentioned previously, I don't typically like to introduce anything new, but I knew that it was only going to improve his handle on what you'll be riding him in, as well as give him an introduction in the event you decide to pursue showing on him at some point. Horses older than five years old will have to be shown in a leverage bit. Three days in, it's safe to say that he stepped up & impressed me! While I definitely had to help him, he felt really good. We spent about 20 minutes or so in the arena before we hit the pastures.

I included a video of today's arena session. You'll see that he's frequently on the wrong lead once we get to loping. At this point, I'm not worrying about that as he's gotten to where he hunts that stop so much that our focus is just on keeping him moving with some fluidity. Eventually, he realizes that it's much easier & more comfortable to be in the correct lead & finds it on his own.

Jasper also got another bath today & did great! He'll also receive a trim early tomorrow morning. Overall, I'm not sure you could have lucked out anymore on a young horse than you did with Jasper. He's easy to get along with. There's really nothing that I can pick on that time & experience won't continue to improve. About the "wildest" he gets is the occasional startle while out riding. He rides through the creek, trees, & pastures well. Makes the trek down the gravel road without incident & confidently moves through the cattle.

I'm looking forward to continuing to work with both you & Jasper through lessons!

- Lexy Nuesch

Feeding Directions:

AM: 4 lbs Magnify (yellow label) & 2 lbs OMG (pink label)

PM: 4 lbs AlfaLux alfalfa cubes