Nice Ride

I am feeling pretty pumped up, as good as I did after each day of the clinic. So here I am hot,sweaty, dirty and dusty writing about the ride Chance and I just had. After almost 2 weeks of not touching him, he was exactly the same as when I left him. Soft, moving well and willing to work dispite the heat in the ring.

I don't really like to use the word "work" when I do things with Chance. I am approaching things with him as fun, light-hearted, matter of fact. It is working well. But on the other hand, we have put a lot of "work" into all we do, therefore making lots of progress. So I guess I'll keep using the word but it's meaning doesn't necessarily mean working. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but I know what I mean.

We started with some ground work, that went pretty fast, almost boring. I tacked him up and we did more ground work with the saddle on. Within a few minutes he was yawning like crazy. He was centered and feeling good, so I got on. We did lots of stuff we both know how to do and some new stuff. We now have the beginning of side steps down. We never got close enough to the rock I put on the fence pole but lots of good steps. The rock will be waiting for the next ride. Everything was going so well that I decided to open the gate that leads to the paddock near the road. We got through the gate lots of times and a couple of steps on the hill that leads to the shady spot. I now truly know what it means to have unity and trust. Even though I was directing his mind & feet in the direction I wanted to go, every step he took was his idea. We were both very relaxed and feeling good about it all.

Today was a wonderful confidence builder for both of us! The best ride at home we have ever had!