The horses

What a BABY

Uno and I seem to have finally clicked.  He still finds dressage HARD, and I still find jumping SCARY.  BUUUUT... We are now speaking the same language.  We trust each other.  He knows that I am going to help him with the hard stuff and I know that he will take care of me when it is scary.

I was actually having a panic attack here and could barely breathe.

No-Stirrup-November has really highlighted how fat we have come.  I do our no stirrup rides bareback - I think it is kinder to his back and we ride bareback all the time now anyway.

We started off with just w-t dressage rides.  We worked in a bridle, in a hackamore, in a halter. We started with the basics, we added canter, we added cross rails and barrels. And Monday night we added a neck rope.  He was prefect!

I climbed on him on a whim after changing his blankets for the night.  We started with a lead-rope tied to a grooming halter.  It was a bit muddy and very dark, so we stuck to walk - trot and simple figures.  He was so good!  Then as we were spiraling in and out on a circle one side of the lead rope came undone.  He kept being good and I could steer, circle, and stop off my legs and voice. 

So I took the halter off.

And he didn't put a foot wrong.  6 months ago we couldn't pick up a canter without bucking and he would randomly bolt in both trot and canter.  Now I have a horse that works with me so well we could do roll backs and trot halt transitions with just a lead-rope around his neck.

If the neighbors were out last night they may have heard me laughing like a crazy person - it was just so fun!