August 2, 2009

This week continued with LBR being ridden at the walk/trot by Gary 4 mornings. We also visited in the evening on the non-ride night, and LBR had taken advantage of the rain.....covered to the tips of his ears in mud.

We went to cheer on the kids at a local horse show on Saturday and then headed to the barn for some grooming/treats. We decided to let LBR loose in the main/dirt arena. He was unsure at first of what to do, but quickly realized he was free and trotted/cantered/bucked. After a few minutes of this, he truly realized how much freedom he had and circled the arena at a full gallop a few times - clearing jumps for fun along the way. On about the 3rd gallop around, he decided it would be fun to run out of the arena and head down to the paddocks where other horses were running/playing. It really scared Gary & Cindy but he calmed down after a few passes up/down the fence line and let Gary catch him. He was lathered in sweat so we led him into the roundpen to walk for a bit....he was perfectly calm and relaxed.

Although we were scared by his behavior, it's very normal and we think it was probably good for him to "be a horse".

We headed over this morning (Sunday) to ride. LBR behaved very well. We groomed, did a short bit of work in the roundpen and then headed to the grass arena. Gary rode first at the walk/trot. Gary was wearing new boots and may have accidentally queued LBR to go faster as LBR went from the trot to the canter once.

Cindy worked LBR next - focusing on keeping him on the rail all the way around and not letting LBR bow out as he went past the entrance/exits.

We de-tacked, groomed and rinsed LBR and then headed back to the paddock for treats.

LBR has just about finished shedding the frogs of his hooves....the dogs will be disappointed, but cleaning up the grooming stall when we're done will be easier.

We are going to start some training lessons with the trainer at our stables this week - we will probably have her ride 2-3 times a week to see if we can get LBR more "on" the bit and focused.