Saturday, August 1, 2009

Mounting Practice with Nina

I spent some time with Nina. She wore a bit for the first time today. She worked her mouth and tried to figure out how to spit the bit out for about 20 mins. Then, she settled and I removed it. I waited about a min and put it back in. She worked her mouth for a short period - maybe a min and then settled. Good girl.

Then, we warmed up and then I took her into the roundpen. She's doing really well with the games. My sister noticed the difference from just a couple weeks ago. We started playing again a few weeks back and she's really a changed horse from when we were playing 5-6 months ago. I always hear about teaching the young ones and then letting them go back out to pasture with the herd for 6 months before pulling them back in for more training. Interesting concept and now I see how effective it could be.

Chrissy held her while I mounted. I started by bellying her repeatedly before Chrissy came to help. Then, Chrissy held her and threw a leg over. I dismounted and did it again several times. She was a calm and collected horse. I, however, was a little nervous and I didn't want her to bucking off and have a bad experience for either of us.

After about 20 mins, we finished up and I took her back to the herd. It was a very positive and calm session. She's going to be better for it and I'm proud of what we're doing.

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