This week, we continued to work on Lateral Flexion, One Rein Stops, Cruising, Follow the Fence, & Yield the Hindquarters from a Standstill.
Mistie wanted to keep things interesting, though! On Wednesday, while we were working on Follow the Fence we were resting in an area that she was wanting to avoid. When I asked her to move into a lope to continue the exercise, something must have worried her & she took off a bit faster. When I went to bend her around, she started to buck & managed to unseat me. I hopped back on & we loped circles & all was well. She's been a bit ticklish around her flanks at times, so I'm not sure if the end of my mecate tickled her back there as we picked up the lope or what. I'm not terribly worried about it, but I may go ahead & do Leading by the Feet, Checking Around, & possibly the Lay Down to build her confidence in tough situations.
Friday's ride went great & I wish I had had my camera set up. She really hunts the stop so that's going to be fun as we advance that!
Wednesday, Mistie got her first rinse off followed by her first bath on Thursday. Those both went quite well. She got a bit antsy during the bath as it is a bit longer process with shampooing, conditioning, etc. But I was quite pleased overall. Once she was dry, we got her tail rewrapped & mane braided again.
Next week, we'll transition into the snaffle bit & review the exercises that we've previously been working on & introduce Bend at the Walk where we'll work on softening the head, neck, & ribcage. I'll likely add Checking Around, Leading by the Feet, & Laying Down as well.
Next week's update will be posted Thursday night.
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