November 2019
November 30, 2019
This week we were blessed with a lot of snow and I was given a beautiful early Christmas present! Dally and Ranger did not mind my fluffy woollies but Patches was not so sure... I took Patches for his first ride outside of the arena and he did awesome! Plus the snow made for some pretty rides. In addition to riding out in the hills, Patches and I worked on getting his turns sharper and he started learning how to back-up.
On Saturday night I rode in the lighted Christmas parade as the 2020 Crooked River Roundup Queen and it was the first time I had ever ridden in a parade. I stayed warm in my Christmas present despite the cold and had an amazing time.
November 19, 2019
Today was Patches' first time being ridden. In the two-weeks prior to today we worked on lunging, saddling, briddling, driving and ponying. I also did some flag work with him and got him comfortable with lots of different stimuli. I tied the flag to his saddle and had him carry around sacks of cans. All of this was done to help prepare him for the first ride.
For his first ride all we did was walk. I wanted to focus on building his confidence and during the rest of the week we will trot and lope. Down the road I want him to be confident and comfortable with everything I ask him to do, and laying a solid foundation is the key to accomplishing this goal.