Moving Fast...

Today was day two of my work with TOEH... the real work, I mean!

We progressed further than I imagined we would make it by now, and after our next ride, will have bypassed the notorious 'third ride syndrome' that some horses seem to have.

I planned to leg up on TOEH again today and do a little walk around. I reminded him from the ground about giving to the pressure of the bit, just by pulling and having him turn. He has not been ground driven since he lost his eye but I think we will get back to that eventually with him as I can see him pulling a very smart cart!

Legging up, I was not graceful at all. I floundered and it seemed that my center of gravity was suddenly in my head as I almost did a faceplant over his shoulder for some reason that I can't figure out for the life of me. TOEH stood there like he had been packing beginners his entire life and was more than used to this. Sort of like "Pschht! Same crap, different day." I was sure I was going to land on his other side on my head but TOEH stood like a rock and I managed to right myself, just a little bit shaken.

Yesterday, my father didn't want me to put my feet in the stirrups in case I needed to make an emergency dismount. Today I requested that I be able to put them in, because I was concerned about my balance after my mounting "issue". I leaned over the saddle to stick my toes in the stirrups on my own and TOEH never flinched. We went for a little pony ride, walking around as we were led with dad. I did not have reins yesterday but today I did and reminded him about stopping and turning. We even backed up a couple of steps with absolutely no issues.

Eventually, my father got brave - he agreed to let me try "steering" as we did a couple of serpentines and figure eights, and allowed me to rein him out a couple of feet from him. Eventually, we were going out ten to eleven feet away from my father and while I got a little worried when TOEH turned to face him (so he could SEE him), no one else seemed concerned - especially not TOEH! There was a little video taken that I will hopefully be able to post when I get home - just to show how mellow and laid back he was about the whole thing.

I've decided to set mini goals - building them up as I go along with him... my ultimate goal, of course, will likely be to win a class under saddle with him, but as for right now, I think my goal to work on will be walking off the longeline. :) Once I reach that goal, I'll set something a bit larger (like jogging on the longeline), and go from there.

I could not have imagined Saturday, when I wrote my post introducing us having never sat on TOEH's back that we would be going around on the longeline like a lesson pony! Many people are hesitant to start a horse as old as TOEH is, but I am interested to see how things pan out and how they play out versus the experience of starting a younger horse, as I have done both. This is also, coincidentally, the first stallion I have started.