I hope you got to enjoy the nice weather this week!
While the weather has remained a bit on the chillier side here compared to the southern part of the state, most of the horses are beginning to shed, so that's a welcome sign of warmer weather nearing!
Don't mind the molasses-covered nose. Roach is pretty fond of his new lick bucket that I was given to try out.
This week, we've continued to ride under saddle. While Roach has continued to grow more confident about the saddling process, he does still have moments that we have to work through during our initial groundwork. He seems to be most bothered on his right side. We worked on desensitizing to the stirrups bumping his side & elbow both while at the standstill & at the walk & trot with the use of a string tied to the stirrups so that I could manipulate their movement. I also used my chaps thrown over the saddle to add a bit more movement to the equation. He wasn't terribly bothered by the chaps.
Thankfully our work bareback has allowed Roach to associate having me on his back as not a big deal, so while I wouldn't get on most other horses who displayed some of the same reactive moments during groundwork, I feel that Roach is confident enough having me on his back, that we can work through those groundwork moments & I'm not too concerned about crawling on after some preparation.
He continues to do well & takes advantage of his rest time while tied at the trailer.
Next week, we'll continue riding. Hopefully, adding mounting from the ground & some trotting if he's comfortable enough & ground condition allows.
I'm heading down to McCook for a cowhorse clinic at the end of next week, so updates will be posted early before I leave for that.
Next week's update will be posted on Thursday.
Comments