From Bones To Beauty: True to myself...

.. I am a few weeks late on posting.

Mai came out like a week and a half ago to do a second test ride on Bones. It went well, but he did test her. No bucking, rearing, or anything nasty like that. She had trouble keeping him in a canter.

Bones doesn't like to be kicked. He will just stop moving and get in a really pissy mood if you kick him repeatedly in attempt to go forward. He does best if use voice, seat, and leg pressure cues. It was just a matter (well, still is a matter) of them figuring each other out. She eventually got him to do what she was asking, and ended the ride on a good note.

We are now nearing the end of a 2 week trial with Bones and Mai. I think it's going well so far.. she has had some trouble catching him, and with his ear-shyness, which I kind of expected. Like I said before, it's just a matter of them figuring each other out! I'm optimistic that she will be pleased with the trial, and want to continue the lease.

Since moving to MMS, I've really put Bones on the back burner as far as riding goes. I still groom him and spend time with him, but it's been probably a week and a half since I've ridden him. Right now Mai is riding him 3x/week, so I don't feel bad =P.

So, that turns my focus on Kazi. I've been either lunging, riding, or lunging and riding almost everyday since the move. The past week or so I've been lunging him in side reins and really like what they're doing for him. He takes 2-3 minutes to warm up and get comfortable in them, but once he does he really stretches down into the bridle, and uses his body correctly.

On the days we ride, we usually lunge for 10-15 minutes, lunging only days typically last 15-20 minutes.

Yesterday we had a great lunge session. Kazi typically does a zoom-zoom trot before he canters, but he did trot-to-canter transitions so smoothly yesterday. I know that's a really small thing to be proud of, but I am! Lol. I set up two ground poles and sent him over them a few times on the lunge line. Then I hopped on and had a nice 40-50 minute ride. We worked on staying on the rail, trot-to-canter transitions, flexing at the poll, and side passes.

Today we worked on the lunge in side reins for 10 minutes, and did a quick 15 minute workout in the indoor. Mai was there, so we went on a fun trail ride. Both of the boys behaved well. They each spooked at a few silly things, no big deal. We were out there for a good hour or so.

When we got back to the barn Mai rode Bones in the outdoor, and I went in the indoor arena to watch a few of the younger riders at MMS.

After a little rest, I got back on and headed outside. I thought it was a good opportunity to get some solo trail miles on Kazi. He called to the other horses a few times, and was getting worked up.. so I took him off of the path and made him think about where his feet were going. We found a really thin deer trail and followed it for a while. We crossed a little ditch/creek like 10 times at many different spots. He was nervous about it at first, but after some confident reassurance, he crossed it like a champ. We did a little bit of trotting, but mainly walked because I am focusing on getting him to relax on the trail.

We went back to the barn, un-tacked, hosed him off, and left him in the wash-bay to dry off. I did a quick clean of my tack, and cleaned up my supplies. Once Kazi was dry (enough) I got on bareback and rode him up to his pasture. Since we had such a nice day together, I thought he deserved some nice long grass to munch on! I stayed on his back, and did my favorite thing in the world. I let him start grazing, then turned around on his back and laid down, using his butt as a pillow. It's sooo relaxing (given you have a quiet enough horse) and comfortable. I laid there for at least 20 minutes. Ahhh, heaven! =D

It's a couple of weeks away from Kazi and I's 1 year (Bones and I's 2 year!) anniversary, and today was the first day I really started to fall in love with him. It took a year with Bones, too.