This week was certainly the most horseless one I’ve had since my purchase of Steen a month and a half ago. When I arrived at the stable on Saturday, my main goal was to do some ground work and attempt to take a step in the right direction in getting him used to the spray bottle. I did both of these things, but Steen seemed pretty distracted and nervous through the whole thing, and I was a little worried that leaving him alone four days out of five was going to put me back a few big steps.
But today I went out just wanting a nice, enjoyable ride, and I got just that. Steen was good while I tacked him up, good with the few ground things we did and he was just great under saddle. After I rode I fiddled around with the spray bottle some more, but didn’t push it too much. Regardless, he seemed less afraid of it today than he was yesterday, so that’s a good sign.
And even though it was the weekend, I never encountered anyone else riding, so that was kind of nice.
I imagine the bad weather has something to do with it…
*** Post Script *** I wanted to put in here, in retrospect, that this is the day I ordered Clinton Anderson’s book, and when it arrived I adopted his training methods.