Boom! Goes The Dynamite

I'm going to skip over what happened yesterday (Wednesday), since it wasn't so good at all.

Anyway, today. Soren (Annika's daddy) drove Annika and I out to the barn. I went and helped Taylor (the new girl) catch Pete and then went to get Zan. While in the midst of catching Zan, Eric asked me to open a gate. So I had to pause from my catching of Zan to open a gate for the other geldings and then I caught Zan. We quickly went up to the barn.

I put Zan in the crossties and literally ran to the tack room to get my brush box. I ran a hard brush and then a soft brush over Zan. Erica (thankfully) brought my saddle, saddle pad, and girth over to me and set it down where I could reach it. I took my time tacking up and then went out to the outdoor arena. I jumped on Zan as fast as greased lightning, with little to no moving around! I was so happy! And that was just the beginning of my great day.

We walked around the outdoor arena at least seven times. I wanted both of us to settle into things and get all concentrated. I gently asked Zan for a trot and he moved into the slowest trot I've ever seen him do. It was so nice, and once I had his head tucked in he did such a good job. We eventually went over the trot poles; he went over those with ease. Annika and Taylor came out into the arena and they did some walking and trotting with me both ways. We went through the weaving cones - success! No stopping problems - yet. Erica actually told us to line up to do a pattern.

We did the same pattern - at first, anyways - as the one we did on Tuesday at the 4H workshop. We had three cones. Start at the stop at the first cone. Wait for the 'judge' - in this case, Erica - to nod at you. Then, walk to the second cone. Pick up your posting trot, and trot to the third cone. Stop at the third cone and wait for the 'judge' to dismiss you. The first time we did the pattern, it was messy but we didn't have too much of a slow/stopping problem. In fact, there WAS no stopping problem. The second time, it was 100% better, and Zan listened to me perfectly!

Then, we did another pattern. Pretty much the same except before you trot to the third cone, you do a sitting trot circle around the second come. We aced that pattern on the first try, and I was so proud of Zan, even though he kept tripping over his own feet.

Taylor went inside, cantered once, and then walked a bit. Erica came back outside, Taylor walked around inside, and Annika trotted once before getting off. Erica went to help Taylor try and canter again, and I asked Zan for a canter his good way. It went awesome! The first attempt at a takeoff was messy and a bit bolt-ish, but I asked him to stop and walk a few steps before trying again. This time, it was so much better. I slowly increased the pressure on the reigns and Zan slowed down.

We walked, reversed, and I asked Zan for a canter his bad way. Correct lead on the first try! BOOM goes the dynamite! Yay! We went around three or four times, and then I asked him for a walk again. We walked around maybe 5 times and then I asked him to canter his bad way again. That time, his canter was even more of an improvement than the first time going his bad way! When I was cooling him out, I couldn't believe it.

It's almost as if after working so hard for the first three days of this week, we've finally gotten things settled down. After today, I am so confident and happy, I'm going to burst! What do you think? Sound good?

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On another subject, only 16 days until the HCHC Cinco De Mayo horse show! I do think that Taylor's coming with Pete to the show, but I'm not sure.

On yet another subject, there's a horse at Shiloh Horse Rescue that just had her first ride today! Her name's Latte, her adoption fee is $1,000.00, and she's a good looking buckskin draft horse mix. A pretty girl, and I suspect from the look of her first ride that she's going to excel in training! I hope that maybe someone I know can adopt her, even though Shiloh Horse Rescue is in Las Vegas, Nevada. I'd like to see where this girl goes. She was born and raised at Shiloh, according to her web page. Check it out if you have the chance. No need to pay or do anything, just take a look. This girl is too good to pass up; I really want to see how far her career goes. She's a really, really good looking mare with nice potential.

Also, if you have a chance, become a regular visitor of Shiloh Horse Rescue's blog. Thanks a ton, guys! See ya'll round!