Fun, fun, fun in the snow!!

Today was great! I got to play with our whole herd!


Mom and I did chores in the morning and then I played with Scout before lunch. He did really, really good. We can play in the pasture now, because the ice is mostly covered by thick, wet, packed snow. But it's still there, so of course, no cantering or anything where a lot of footwork is involved. We played with some zone 1 sideways and slow circles at the end of the 45 foot line. We got about halfway there, and then he would get distracted. So, I had to bring in some coils and keep the contact. But the whole time the belly of the rope was on the ground, so that was a huge +. We did some driving after that. He was pretty unconfident at first, but after we did some major friendly games and a few little challenges, he was awesome! A few of the things we did was: dropping all the lines and seeing if he would come back to me. He did and I was very proud of him! Getting tangled in the lines on purpose and seeing if we could untangle ourselves and then doing some really light transitions upwards and downwards. Then we did some precise maneuvers and that was pretty tricky, but we both got it quite fast. I had him back out of a narrow spot, and then back into it, go through it, and then back out again. A few times he got confused, but it was really cool to see him figure it out. :)

Next it was Eddie's turn!
We went out and played in the pasture. He was pretty sleepy, so we didn't do a lot of running around and plus the ice was there. So, I would send him out on the circle and he would go almost to the end of it. We were probably at 35-40 feet the whole time. That was at a walk too, and the line was dragging the whole time. Almost to the point where I had to take in 5 coils because he wanted to stay in with me the whole time. We jumped the tube and few times because it's in this huge drift. This thing (the tube) that used to be up to my knees, is right in the middle of my shin. That's how big the drift is. So there is no chance of hitting the ice that is underneath. But still, it feels like I have to walk on eggshells and whenever he jumps into a fast trot, I have to slow him down. But on the track we can rip!! We went out there and ran around because he had quite woken up. So we ran about 600 feet and I was at a sprint, in huge winter boots, in 5 inches of snow. Needless to say, I think we're both tired! So I was sprinting and he was doing his magnificent extended trot. I LOVE that trot! I can't wait until I can ride it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was really cool, at one moment we were both right next to each other and our feet were exactly in unison. It was SO SO SO SO SO pretty!!! I wish I had had a camera, but it was an amazing experience. I just love that moment when you're both thinking the same thing and your horse is just SO connected. Only a few times we've expierenced that. Once when we cantered a ton out in the pasture, this time, and one afternoon in the summer when we had a Level 4+ liberty session. Hooray for excellent play sessions!

~Lea & Eddie~

~~And now Scout~~

Proverbs 14:22

Do they not go astray who devise evil?
      But mercy and truth belong to those who devise good.