One step forward two hops back

Right before ride four. Looks happy to me.

Ride four kicked butt. He felt calm and forward and I got a few steps of trot both ways. We moved away from Chris pretty quickly as well. Ride five we had some regression. He was nervous and tense. I got off a few times when he felt like he might explode, and took him back to the mounting block to work on mounting. We eventually got some calm leaded steps from him and called it quits. Not sure why he was so nervous. Maybe it was us, or it was the weather (windy and overcast), or the fact that Chris had parked the truck in a new place... who knows! I know we will have a lot of days like both of these in the next few months. A few shuffled steps forward followed by some scared scuttles back. Both rides he spent a lot of time giving my outside foot the hairy eyeball again. So weird. In some ways he acts like he has never been ridden, and in others he seems like he just has a lot of baggage. I mean the foot thing sounds like something a horse that was never backed would do doesn't it?

Weather (and maybe nerves) has kept me from riding at all this week. On Monday I had a crappy day at work, and I just did not have the mental or emotional bandwidth to ride, so I hung out with him on the tailgate of the truck with a pocket full of treats and a beer (for me). We worked on getting used to my feet doing weird stuff. It was fun to just hang out with him.

Yesterday it was looking like it was about to rain when I got home so I brought him into the roundpen sans saddle and we worked through all of his gaits going both ways. His canter is coming around, but it is still not pretty, and definitely is far from relaxed. After groundwork, Chris came in and held him why I swung my leg all over his back. We clicked for relaxation. He was pretty tense at first when my foot would pop into that other eye but did not seem to care if I rested it on his butt. So odd. Either way I am hoping that breaking his insecurities down to "you can be okay with my legs and feet hanging around you" will help his tension under saddle.

I have a lesson scheduled for tomorrow, but I don't have high hopes for it, due to the tropical storm heading our way. Yay Florida!

Gray's Corner

He still has some lasting marks from the rub he got from the fly mask, and he is still sensitive there. I decided to halter him anyways yesterday so I could at least give him a proper grooming. He stood like a gentleman and was great for his feet (unlike some golden nut-jobs I know ;) ). I tried on some brushing boots I had picked up at a tack sale for him, and he did not disappoint with a little bit of adorable high stepping. Sorry no video. Gray watches us when I am working with Oak, and he is always following me around. I think he is telling me he is ready for a job!