Working on My Roping Skills

August 16, 2012

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

For my birthday last December Robin got me a whole bunch of awesome horse related items. I’ve read many of the books and gotten some excellent use out of the spurs, but one item I have not played around with yet was a nice rope. I often thought about bringing it out to the barn, but I also had so much other stuff I was working on I just never got around to it.

So today my plan was to just mess around with the rope around Bear and see how things go. After I had him all tacked up I brought the rope out and Bear was not happy about it. He clearly knew what a rope was, and he knew he didn’t want to have anything to do with it. I thought I could strap it to the saddle to get to where we ride, but he was moving around so much I figured I should work on this stuff out in the open and not at the hitching post.

Out on the strip I proceeded to hold the coiled rope up and gently tap him on the shoulder and on the saddle where he could easily see it. I did my best to keep my body language very relaxed and non-threatening.

Even those small movements brought a ton of life into Bear. He was backing up fast, spinning on his haunches and staring at the rope with a wild look in his eyes. When he got a little far away from me I would quarter him withe the end of the mecate and slowly keep walking towards him. Eventually he settled in, but he really kept a lot of tension in his body each time I’d rub him with the rope.

When things were going well I switched sides. The second side was better, but then at one point I went to pet him with the rope on top the neck and again he started flipping out. I stuck with him and didn’t let him get away. It took a few minutes, but he did settle down. He also stopped flinching and holding so much tension when I’d bump him with the rope.

I didn’t see that one coming at all. I thought for sure Bear would be fine with this stuff, but this is why I wanted to work on it. You can’t make a solid horse without doing all kinds of stuff to him.

Once he relaxed I started swinging the rope near him. He didn’t budge, though he was curious and following it closely with his eyes and ears. I progressed to throwing a loop out next to him, then throwing loops around his legs, and finally I was throwing loops over his back and getting them on his haunch. For all of this he never moved.

I figured that was enough for today, so I strapped the rope to my saddle, did a little more groundwork to make sure it wasn’t bothering him and then climbed on.

Under saddle Bear did not have the kind of energy he did when I was working with the rope, but he was moving very nicely. We did a lot of trotting and he was always back on his haunches and very well balanced. We did some nice loping, too, but the rope coil would flap against my legs in a way that was making him pretty antsy. I went back to just trotting and would occasionally reach down and flap the rope against my leg. He started to get more used to it.

To end the ride I ditched the rope and did some big lopes up and down the strip and got some nice circles, too. At one point we were running down the strip at a pretty good clip and we totally spooked Tate, the other new 3 year old. Tate about lept out of his skin and went tearing across the pasture. Bear could tell something was wrong with that and he just stopped hard and took a good, hard look at Tate. I had never felt Bear do that. It was really funny. And nice to know that he might choose to stop and check things out rather than pick other, more volatile options.

We will definitely have to keep up with the rope. It was fun to work with, and though it kind of sounded like I was throwing some decent loops around his feet and butt, that isn’t true at all. These were some of the ugliest loops imaginable. I’m hoping some of it is due to the stiffness of the new rope, but I also know I’ve just got to practice with it.

101

Brian

August 12, 2012

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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Today’s ride put me at 101 hours for the year. That is not a lot by many counts, but considering 100 hours was my goal last year and it took me until early December to hit it, I’m feeling pretty good with where I’m at. The saddle time has really helped me out a lot as I’m continuing to feel more and more comfortable when things aren’t going as nicely as they should. I also feel like I’ve got better body control in some of the slower and more refined maneuvers. There is no substitute for time.

But today’s trail ride was just so so. It was one of those rides where I could look back and see how far we’ve come and how well we are doing but also notice lots of other things that we need to work on.

Our main problem today came when we were trotting on some of the long sections of trail. I just could not keep Bear from springing forward and dumping around on his front end. This has not been a problem for many weeks, and when things resurface they always become extra frustrating for me. Other than frequently taking the slack out of one rein and then later the other to double him and get his weight back on his haunches, I didn’t know what to do. It would work for a few strides, but that was all.

These are such tricky things, too. I do not feel the need to dictate the way Bear moves at all times, but today I wanted him to be a little more back and supple and with me, as we were riding with a new rider on a young horse that we have never been out with. Also, Steen was just wound a little tightly this morning. It was the most antsy he has been in probably over a year.

Those were really the extent of my problems. Certainly not a big deal, but afterwards I feel a little bad, like I was using the hackamore more than I should have. Bear seemed fine with it, and he never stopped responding to me. He just didn’t stay in the frame I would have liked him to be in. He was happy to walk out, not bothered by cars or mini-bull dozers, and he wasn’t even all that inclined to push towards home.

I’ll probably take a few days off now. It will be good for Bear, too. I got a lot of riding in the past four days, and I even broke my rule of not using Bear three days in a row. So it is possible he was not feeling his best. It is always hard to say.

Musical Horses

Brian

August 11, 2012

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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Today we changed everything up. I rode Steen, and Robin rode Bear. She hadn’t really ridden him in forever, so she was curious to feel how he is doing in the hackamore. And after that we moved right into a second ride with Robin going back to Steen and me jumping on Laredo. Again we had perfect weather, so it was easy to spend a ton of time at the barn.

This was my first time riding Steen in the hackamore. Our last ride together was so so, and the last person who wasn’t Robin who rode Steen in the hackamore also had a less than ideal experience. But I went in relaxed and just planned on not letting him get upset with me.

From the beginning things were great. We were weaving around the strip with little to no rein aids just like I do to warm up with Bear. He gave me some super slow and relaxed trots and was happy to tuck his head and collect for me. It was really funny to feel his slow jog again. On our last ride he was trotting pretty fast and stiff the whole time. Not today. Since Steen is slightly uphill, it makes it feel like you’re trotting in a summer lounge chair when he busts out his Western Pleasure jog. We also worked on moving out a little more and getting some really nice leg yields. He is so soft with this maneuver.

Since things were going so well I asked him for a little bit of loping. He wasn’t too keen to jump into it initially, but eventually I got him going. I probably do quite a few different things to ask for it than Robin does. I got the wrong lead a few times once we did get going, but it was great to run around on Steen. I’m pretty sure the last time I loped on him was almost four years ago when I would ride Steen in the indoor arena at the old barn and not worry about steering him. Now that I know so much more about horses (and have fallen a few times) I can’t believe I did that.

At one point Robin hopped off for a few minutes and Steen was ready to be done. This was probably the worst part of our ride. He started pushing through my legs and forcing me to come in a little harder, and then he’d get mad at me for doing it. So I slowed things down and we just worked on walking in circles. He didn’t like that at first either, but then he kind of got into it. We started curving through the middle to change directions and then moving in and out of the trot and everything was back to normal.

It was definitely the best ride I’ve had on Steen ever. We’ll have to play the horse swap game again some time.

During this whole time Laredo was in the side lot hanging out. He is mostly fine by himself, especially since there are pastures of horses on three sides of that lot, but at other times he got a little upset at being left out of the fun. He would hang out at the gate and try to get out, then pace around in circles. When we finally came to get him he walked right up to me and couldn’t wait for me to get the halter on. Such a funny youngster.

When we got back on the strip, though, he was not so into the “work” thing. He was checked out during our groundwork, and I had to give him a few more pops than usual (which I don’t like doing). Thankfully it got him thinking again. But then when I went to mount, he took a few steps away. I moved his feet, and then he stepped away again. This happened four or five times. Finally I made him back up a long way and he just stood while I mounted. This has not been an issue for us at all, but like the little bucking episode a few weeks ago, it just feels like he might need to try things out sometimes. I don’t know, but at least we worked through it.

Under saddle he had a ton of energy. He was walking out and ready to go. I started out by doing some short serpentines to make sure he was supple and paying attention to me, and then we moved into some bigger exercises. He was giving me better whirly-gigs than the other day, probably because of the extra energy.

When we started trotting he gave me a few energetic strides and then settled into a beautiful trot. It almost felt like he was just waiting the whole time to get to the trotting. We did some nice figure-eights and zig zagged around the strip with excellent control.

Lately Robin has been trying to explain to me that my hands get too far apart when I’m riding to give subtle cues and then make things happen when I need to. I knew it was happening, but I thought it was kind of supposed to be that way with where I was at with my horses. I didn’t always do it, but maybe the transition to the hackamore and then the new horse got me into the habit.

Either way, it was working a little bit, but at other times it was totally failing me. So yesterday and today I worked harder at keeping my hands close together and giving softer cues with my hands that would encourage the horse to tuck their chin a little bit and break through the loin into the turn. Laredo is very inclined to break at the poll, so this was really working well with him. Plus I had better leverage to work with in case he decided to blow off my cues, but that was happening much less than it usually does. That probably isn’t a coincidence. The changes made for some really relaxed trots and I was able to move him in a much more precise manner.

Because he had so much energy I spent a lot of time trotting with him. We worked on a walk/trot transition game where Robin and I rode in an oval and tried to stay on the opposite side of one another. We had designated spots for upward and downward transitions. Laredo was sloppy in the beginning, but then he figured things out and we got really smooth. When we changed direction we had a few issues with downward transitions, but we were also able to work through those.

We ended the ride by broadening Laredo’s horizons. We walked up and down the strip a little farther than we normally do and then turned down the drainage that leads to the second strip. Laredo was loving it. He was moving out with a lot of energy and his ears were pricked forward the whole time. He is a very curious horse and so far doesn’t seem inclined to spook. We turned around near the end of the drainage, and the funny thing about the little adventure is that he was not at all excited to be going back over familiar territory. Most horses get pointed toward the barn and can’t wait to get back. Not Laredo, he wants to move out and explore. We’ll see how this plays out as we keep working with him; he could make quite the trail horse.

A Break in the Heat?

Brian

August 10, 2012

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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As we are on “vacation,” we have been lazy about getting up and out to the barn. Thankfully our time off has coincided with a nice break in weather. Today was absolutely perfect; blue skies with puffy white clouds, temps in the 70s, and a light north wind. And we took no pictures.

We rode on the strip again, and it was Bear’s turn. I almost went with Laredo again as we had such a fantastic ride yesterday, but I don’t want too many days to go by without Bear getting some exercise. His back has been wonderful, and he is looking really good right now and I don’t want to mess with things while they’re good.

Plus he was excited to see me. It always feels good when your horse wants to hang out with you. But once we got out on the strip Bear was s l u g g i s h. It wasn’t until I started demanding more of him at the trot and loping up and down the strip that he woke up and gave me some energy to work with.

And the big thing we worked on today was listening to my legs at the lope. We’ve had great speed control loping in the hackamore lately, but we haven’t had the best directional control. He has been inclined to veer from one side of the strip to the other. Today he was really bad about it. At one point we were loping to the left then the right and then the left some more. It kind of felt like we were pinballing down the strip.

So we worked on it at the trot. We focused on leg yields, and I also put him in a lot of situations he doesn’t really like and made sure I held him there with my leg. It is times like this when it is nice that Bear doesn’t like being too close to the farm fields, because that gives me a lot of space to work with.

He didn’t like it at first. When I had to really remind him that my outside leg was there and he couldn’t go through it he would shake his head at me. And then all of a sudden he settled into it. We moved back into the lope and, tadda, no problems. We proceeded to lope some pretty nice circles. At one point, we even jumped in with Robin and Steen and we were all running right next to one another. It felt pretty neat.

We also decided to get back to the routine. We go through spurts of working at it. Sometimes it can get a little boring and we aren’t sure what to do with it, but we made it much more difficult today. We added some loping sections, and we also worked hard to keep our circles the same size and have the horse who was supposed to lead through one section move out at the trot while the other was back and more collected. We certainly had some sloppy moments, but we also had some really good parts where we were all lined up.

This was also the first ride Robin and I did together in our hackamores. It is one of those things that is not a big deal at all but kinda neat at the same time.

Surprise Riding Time

Brian

August 9, 2012

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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We were planning on a trip to Arizona this week, but the flights were not in our favor. So we ended up staying with my parents for a few days and then heading back to Iowa City. I could have gone back to work, but I already changed my calendar. And besides, I’ve got tons of vacation time. Still, you would think with all the time off I would be able to keep up with my recent rides. Guess not.

Last Thursday we had a really pretty afternoon, so we decided to get out after I got home from work. Unfortunately, it was one of those nice days for sitting around, not so nice for riding. The guys were hot and sluggish from standing around all day. I had kind of forgotten why we weren’t riding much in the afternoon’s lately. This is why. Still, Bear and I had a good time.

Then Saturday we got out early before driving to Chicago. It was sticky and hot, and the guys got covered in sweat. It wasn’t our best trail ride. I was exhausted from a hard workout the day before, and we headed out in the opposite direction we normally go. The guys got a little excited about this, and then it took quite a while for them to settle back down. By the time they did I was pretty much ready to be done riding. Poor Robin, this might have been the first time ever she was up for doing more than me.

Now we are back in town. We took a cloudy day off to lay around the house, read, drink tea and just veg out. It felt great, and I wasn’t in the mood for riding anyways. Then today we finally got back to the barn.

I rode Laredo. It had been a while for us, and our last few rides have been highly mediocre so I felt ready for a good ride. Robin has been having some good rides on him, and today I could feel that. I think I was also in a good frame of mind to work with him. He was also prepared to work with me.

We started with our usual slow stuff. He was moving off my legs very nicely. We’ve also been spending more time moving his front end over and building up to some whirly-gigs. Those are still hit or miss, but he is collecting really nicely and he seems to enjoy the challenge of them.

When we started trotting they felt like our best trots ever. He was relaxed and staying back on his haunches. There was no sign that his feet were bothering him, and for the most part, he was really listening to my legs and rein cues.

Of course, at other times, he would brace up and ride right through my cues. I’m still trying to keep him relaxed at the trot, so I give him a few seconds to see if he’ll figure it out.

We trotted a lot today. Because of how our rides worked last week and us being out of town, Laredo had a week off, and I think he might have gotten a little out of shape. Perhaps because of this, our downward transitions were wonderful. At one point I asked him to go from the trot to the walk, he tripped a little, stopped hard, and immediately shifted to backing up. I couldn’t help but laugh at him. I also asked for another step back just so he didn’t get the idea he could make the decisions.

This was pretty close to how the ride ended. It was definitely one of our best yet. It is funny to see his two steps forward, one step back kind of progress. Thankfully there have been a lot more forward steps so far.

Early Morning Tireds

Brian

July 31, 2012

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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Last time we got up early and headed out to the barn right away, I was the tired one. This time, it was my horse. I can only think that the two new young horses added to our herd last night kept Laredo up and playing all night long.

When we arrived everyone was in the far east section of the pasture grazing. When they saw us approaching, they quickly grouped up. For quite a while they stared at us from the top of the hill, all ears pricked in our direction.

Finally Bear trotted down to see us. He could tell we had his vitamins with us. The nice thing about feeding the dominant horse in the pasture is you can just set the food down and be sure he is the one to get it.

I was able to halter Laredo while Robin grabbed Steen and all the other horses kind of danced and trotted around us. Clearly everyone was still a little frisky.

We rode on the strip again. Laredo’s feet have fully chipped away and now look like he just got a trim. Funny, I’ve never seen any of our other horse’s hoofs do this. The good news is they still aren’t bothering him. Nothing bothered him today. Once he left the herd he just went on some kind of auto-pilot mode. He did everything I asked of him, and he did it all moderately well; he was just exhausted. He didn’t have the mental engagement he had during the last two rides, and he was also physically tired. He gave me a lot of shuffle trots and was much more inclined to drop out of the trot than usual.

Still, it is a good sign that he was still able to comply with all my requests even though he was tired and spacey. We probably didn’t make great progress on things today, but since we are in the stage of just working through the basics, I think it all adds up.

The funny thing is that once we finished the ride he went right back to being goofy and playful. He is such a kid.

A Smaller Group Ride

Brian

July 29, 2012

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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We woke up this morning to rain. Quite a bit of it. This was great as we are in a drought like much of the nation, but it was a little less than great because we had our group ride plans for 9. Robin emailed our friends and said we’d probably be going out later, and they said they would most likely do the same. But since the weather looked iffy, we didn’t bother to coordinate.

So Robin and I ended up riding with just each other. We do this all the time, but we don’t usually venture so far out. We ended up doing most of the ride we did last weekend. And it was fantastic.

I’ve been having such great rides with Bear in the hackamore that I decided to try him in it on the trails. I figured since it was only Robin and I, if things went wrong I could stop and take a break or we could just turn around. But really, nothing went wrong.

We got to the Herbert Hoover easement and shifted into the smoothest and laziest trail trotting I’ve ever felt. I’m sure it helped that Bear was tired from all our running yesterday. But more than that, I think all four of us were just relaxed.

We used that stretch to warm up, and then when we did the out and back stretch on the B road we moved out a little more. We still walked the steeper downhills, but we trotted the flats, loped up the hills, and then shifted back into more trotting when we felt like we’d run far enough. The guys were great with it. Very attentive and very willing to move out or come down.

I kept thinking they would get overly excited or that something would kind of happen. But no, we just kept moving out along the trail. We followed the easement north a little farther than where we got on. Here Bear was a teeny bit more excited, but this was only the second time he’d seen this trail. It is also fairly treed over, so he can’t see as far. He gave a little jump when some birds flew out, and then later both he and Steen gave a little start to a deer that was crashing through the brush. But really, these were so minor. They were both just having fun and not worried.

I was thrilled with my decision to use the hackamore. Just like yesterday, I could take the slack out of one rein and Bear would ease up on his pace. I never had to pull on him at all. The hackamore seems to allow me to be more corrective than I am with the bit but also softer on the whole. It’s really perfect.

Lots of Running

Brian

July 28, 2012

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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Today I hoped to build on some of the work Bear and I did at the lope on our last ride. We again rode on the strip and in the hackamore. We warmed up with lots of meandering without hands and then some nice trotting. The whole time I couldn’t help but think how responsive Bear felt compared to Laredo. It is not a fair comparison, of course, but since I’ve spent so much time working on these things with Bear it is nice to feel a pretty big difference.

Then we started loping up and down the strip. Bear does love his patterns, so he started trying to guess where I’d ask for the lope based on where I had asked for it previously. I had to keep changing up the way we were doing things to make sure he was listening to my body. It was kind of fun, but also a little annoying at times. But he was always smooth transitioning up into the lope. I only had to give the smallest cue, and we would go rolling down the strip at a comfortable stride.

We did have a little time in the middle where he got a little chargey. It occurred after we took a brief break to chat with the new boarders. I guess he was just feeling like we were done, but we still had a lot of time left to run. After just a couple minutes of mixed trotting and loping with a few sharp corrections in the turns, he started listening to me again. I wonder if because he is the head of the herd when I’m not there that he just gets used to making his own decisions, because he is constantly sharing his opinions with me. I always work through them pretty quickly, but it is just funny to feel him keep trying.

Once we got back to my plan, he was really good. We spent much more time running up and down the strip than we did last time. He definitely got a good workout. He was also really attentive to my legs in the turns. The only downside is he was not as attentive to my legs when we were going straight. He was often running up the strip on an angle. I’m sure some of it was his desire to get near Laredo or near the pasture herd, but I also think some of it was my fault. I really haven’t spent a lot of time loping long sections of straightaways, and I think I just don’t have my leg position and rhythm figured out for it. But that is why I’m practicing it. At least I know one of the major things I need to work on.

I am also continually amazed at how well Bear is taking to the hackamore. I have done rides like this in the snaffle, but we have never been this relaxed. He always wants to be on the bit, or he just charges out as fast as he can possibly go, thus making me bring him in with the bit. But these past few rides we’ve been able to cover a lot of distance on a very loose rein. Occasionally we get going a little faster than I would like, but all I have to do is begin to take the slack out of one rein and he just checks his speed. I have always been a little jealous of how loose and relaxed Robin and Steen can run around, but now I think Bear and I are starting get a little bit of that.

But just when I think I’m catching up, I see that Robin has Laredo trotting around in a very smooth and relaxed gait. It seems they were able to build on the last few rides quite a bit.

Back to Some Afternoon Riding

Brian

July 27, 2012

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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I love the days when I can get off work in the afternoon and Robin and I can head to the barn. There is usually no one else there, and it can make for an exceptionally relaxing ride. Fridays are almost always quiet, so I was excited when I got off work and the temps were mild, there were big puffy clouds in the sky, and a nice breeze from the north.

It was my turn to ride Laredo. It would be our first ride since he threw in some bucks last weekend. Based on how relaxed he was during grooming and tacking, I’m not sure he even remembered that he was unhappy with me riding him last time. Still, out on the strip I spent a few extra minutes working on groundwork. He was attentive and trying, but I did noticed during one of our exercises he was much stiffer going from left back to right. Or I wasn’t as clear in asking for that. Either way, we practiced it a little bit more and made some teeny progress. I’ll have to keep watching for how this goes in the future.

Under saddle he was great. Moving off my legs, giving to the bit, stopping, backing and all the things we’ve been working on. I think he was actually having fun with the ride. After a little time checking in on everything we moved into the trot. While we were walking figure-eights I could feel that he was spending more and more time back on his haunches. This also proved true when we started trotting. He wasn’t back quite as much as he was at the walk, but it was a noticeable improvement over some of our previous trots. He also only took what felt like a couple sore steps, and they were at the beginning. So his feet are definitely toughening up.

Laredo stayed relaxed through all of our trotting, but he was not bending and responding to my legs quite as well as he does at the walk. So at times he would get a little stiff and then I would get stiff and then he would get forward and then I would lean forward and pull (probably) too hard on the bit. But each time we were able to come through and not run into the bean field or hit the gate, and then we would have a few more strides of nice, balanced trotting.

I think I spent more time trotting him this ride than I ever have before. And they were longer sessions of trotting, too. He even got pretty tired at the end. Thankfully our steering issues improved each time we trotted. I would sometimes get a little frustrated and share my problems with Robin. She’d watch and then tell me things looked better than I made them sound. Because they were. We would notice something else to focus on, then I’d walk a few circles and figure-eights and get back to the trotting. Sure enough, that time would be better, too. It made for a very positive feeling ride, and I think Laredo was genuinely happy with his job.

The bucking from our last ride wasn’t too much fun, but we got through it. And I think now we are back to improving. So if we only have a ride or two of backsliding every few weeks, that doesn’t sound too bad for a young horse. Oh, and we will have some fun comparisons as there is a new 3 year old solid Paint living in our herd. He and Laredo fast became best buddies. They are almost the exact same age, but they seem to be mature and immature in completely different ways. It will be neat to watch them grow.

Another Wednesday Morning Ride

Brian

July 25, 2012

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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It is supposed to get over a hundred again today, so I am really happy we got out to the barn early. Earlier than we’ve ever gone, actually. And it felt really nice. It was getting sticky-hot when we left, but during the ride it was cool and breezy.

I rode Bear out on the strip with the hackamore. We started off working on figure-eights with no hands. These were OK. I felt like I had to correct him more than I would have liked. But really, that was just my own expectations. Since we can do great figure-eights with the reins I tend to feel like we should be able to do them all the time. But this is something we only just started working on, so when I changed my own outlook on the exercise, I felt better about it. We probably started riding a little better, too.

Despite the pretty good no hands riding, Bear moved right into being distracted. I worked hard on changing things up and keeping him thinking. I think it worked as we started to ride together a little bit more after a few minutes. I’m not sure what was on his mind, but he really just wanted to look off in the distance.

When we started hitting all our transitions and patterns with very little use of the reins, I asked for some loping. He was feeling very balanced at the trot, and this carried right over to the lope. Because of our tough moments on the trail ride Sunday, I wanted to spend some time trotting and loping in long straightaways. So we loped on down the strip right up to the point of the steep downhill. He was great with it. The first time he did get a little excited and want to run right back, but we just trotted a few circles and figure-eights and then trotted right back up the strip. It was a very nice feeling trot, too.

So we kept that up for much of the ride. At no point did he get overexcited and start digging in and stiffening up. Only one time did he pick up the lope when I didn’t ask. I checked him with one rein to bring him back to the trot. Instead he dropped his speed considerably and gave me the most relaxed lope of the day. So I figured I had to take that. For everyone of our loping stretches he remained extremely attentive to my legs. Since I don’t have a lot of practice running a horse straight, I don’t think I was using my legs as effectively as possible. But the interesting thing was that Bear was really listening to them. It meant I got a few shifts and turns I wasn’t really asking for. At one point I’m pretty sure he gave me a flying lead change. So it was really cool to feel all that.

We then spent a few minutes watching Robin and Laredo trot around. They both looked great. Laredo has been experiencing some big chipping in his front hooves, so we were happy to see that he is not really bothered by that. Robin said he was so smooth and attentive she wanted to end on that note and she hopped off. Things were good with Bear and I, so I was ready to end the ride, too. But I also wanted to do just a little more work with no hands. I think it is a good way to begin and end our rides.

So we walked around the strip for just a few minutes, and he was amazing. Far better than during the beginning of the ride. I felt like I could take him anywhere I wanted to go. It was a really great way to end the ride.

I feel like lately Bear and I have had another interesting shift in our relationship. The past couple weeks he has been coming up to me in the pasture from much farther off and with much more energy. He seems to be liking his job and really enjoying the new challenges I present him with. The hackamore definitely makes him think more than the bit. Initially he seemed put off by it, but now I think he gets into it. I also think part of the shift could be that he is feeling better. It has been weeks since I’ve felt the hard knot in his back. I know how grumpy I can get when something hurts, so it makes me feel good to see him feeling good.