I hope you all stayed warm this week & didn't get much snow!
Last Saturday, Rowdy got to make the trip to the indoor arena in Bloomfield with me & a few other horses. He loaded, unloaded (even in the dark), & stood tied at the trailer great. He rode quite well. Like Slate, Rowdy was a bit magnetized to the door knowing the other horses were just outside at the trailer when we first started loping circles, but overall, he did great! I was quite pleased with his desire to stop considering we haven't spent much time working on stopping from the lope yet here at home.
Introducing sidepassing on the fence went well. My primary goal in this teaching stage is to have him differentiate between pressure on his left & right side & moving off of it. Straightness & consistency will come in the following sessions. Early this week, we did get to work more on sidepassing & venture down the lane in the wind & temperatures that didn't feel nearly as warm as they forecasted before more snow & brutally cold temperatures arrived again.
Next week, the weather forecast starts to look on the up & up with consistent snow melt. We'll continue to work on our sidepassing, introduce shoulder control, & spend a lot of our time on outside riding. I'm also planning another lesson/trimming trip for March 4th & 5th that Rowdy will get to tag along on again.
Next week's update will be posted on Friday.