November 12th playtime

November 12 2009

                                                         
I was planning on catching Prince and playing with his feet this morning but Ruffy was right there when I went out so I decided to halter him and play around with his feet and such. Prince and Ruffy were up in the riding ring when I went out. Ruffy was very sleepy!! That was a big help!! ;)

Instead of going down the hill the “normal” way I asked Ruffy to back all the way down.... I wasn't sure how he would respond but he did it perfectly!!! I was so proud of him!!! We didn't go down completely straight but it was good enough. Then we backed all the way into the corral too!! Ruffy had a big lick and chew over that!!!

Then I picked up all four of his feet, cleaned them out and simulated a trimming session. Ruffy was perfect!!! I hope when I have to start trimming him he will be that sleepy!! It will make my job a million times easier!!

Since Ruffy was very sleepy and we had played some I decided to climb on him and just do some friendly while I was sitting on him. The corral gate was closed so he couldn't go anywhere. It was really fun!!! Ruffy is a very comfortable ride!! At first I wasn't planning on going anywhere but then we were in the way on my mom and sister cleaning some manure out of the corral so we had to move. Ruffy was so light and responsive. We did a couple direct reins, back up, lateral flexion and then lied down on him. He was a little bit worried when I was lying flat out on him but he soon relaxed then I got off.

I sat down on the ground and asked him to lower his head so I could take the halter off. Ruffy lowered his head softly and kept it there nice and still while I un haltered him!! Ruffy is such a cool horse!!!

Prince session

This afternoon I went outside again and played with Prince a little bit. I didn't go up to the riding ring because we were babysitting so I had to keep an eye on my little brothers and the boy we were watching. My plan was to play with Prince's feet and such but I wanted to make sure he was in a good frame of mind first. We didn't do a whole lot. Just some 1 rein zone 5 driving. We did sidepasses, Touch it, yo-yo's and some other stuff all from zone 5. I couldn't believe how well Prince did!!! He was so in tune with me!!

After that I picked up all four of Prince's feet. I held each one for longer then I normally do, I put myself in different positions, moved his foot around some etc just to get him desensitizes to all that. Prince did really well. His left hind foot was the hardest but other then that he stood quietly. He has come so far!!!!

After that we just spend some time hanging out together then I let him go. Prince stayed with me for a while then left. I am so proud of how far Prince has come with his feet. He is no where near perfect but he is a lot better then he was.

~K