June 26, 2018

I had fun training Shine today:

• He stood calmly while I tacked him up. Though he did bite the rope a few times, he stopped when I gently pulled it out of his mouth. 
• He continued to stand calmly while I set the western saddle on his back and he didn't try to bite the saddle like he has in the past.
• He also stood calmly while I tightened the saddle
• I mounted from there after he quickly accepted the bit and then rode him down the hill to the arena.
• He more easily walked down the hill and followed my leg cues rather than zig-zagging back and forth.

He did seem to have a lot of energy, so I tailored his training around that:

• Worked on quick zigzags around the arena one whole time each direction
• Worked him at the canter in small circles, then had him stop (he is greatly improving on his stops) and turned to go the other way in small circles at the canter.
• As a breather from the quick turns, I had him pick up the canter, going around the whole arena. He loved that. I had him go one way then turn smaller circles before picking up the canter in the other direction.

Calm boy:

• When we were walking back to the hitching post, one of the young girls came up on a horse that was quite excited and not listening to her rein cues.
• Shine stayed calm the whole time, even though the other horse was jigging around close to Shine.

Shine's training has come a long way - I praised him today and that other girl was impressed by how much he has learned in his young life. Shine is only 2 years and 3 months old.

Sweet!