I hope you're all enjoying this nice weather! We're hopeful we had our last snow & ice this past Tuesday & Wednesday. Next week's weather looks to be fantastic with temps reaching 80°!
Last week, I mentioned that Roach got to rejoin the herd. I was a bit unsure about how he would be to catch as the Mustang can sometimes be a bit wary about being caught. While Roach had been doing very well in his own pen, there was a good chance that he would feed off of Cactus' energy & want to avoid being caught again. Boy, that was about the opposite of what happened. I think he got even easier to catch. When I walk out of the house, he comes to the gate wanting attention. When you walk in the pen to catch another horse, he's not far behind. He has been a little more dominant with Cody, a new 8 YO client horse, especially at feeding time. As they figure out their system & become more familiar with each other, this should get a bit better.
This week, we've been working on weaning back on the groundwork we do at the start of each session before saddling. He's definitely still displaying some reactivity towards the cinches.
I was hopeful we could get our first arena ride under our belts today, but one of the new client horses took a little more time than expected & we didn't have enough daylight to get it done. Instead, we worked on our groundwork exercises in the arena to familiarize him with the scenery there & also did some obstacle work over the bridge.
Next week's weather forecast is just what we need. Roach will have his first rides in the arena now that it's finally dry enough. It looks like we should have a full week without any winter weather interference. I'm hopeful that some wet saddle pads, longer rides, & more concentrated training will further help his reactivity.
Next week's update will be posted on Saturday.
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