Memphis, 1st Weekend and 1st Week Recap

Somebody's turning into a horse! Memphis is just trucking right along in the process. I feel like we make small amounts of progress each day, but the following day, we don't miss a beat, and he just picks up not just where he left off, but even better than that. What a fun horse to train! We hit road blocks too; he really did have a lot of buck in him in the beginning but that's to be expected. We spent last Thursday working mostly on that issue, and he's a different guy now. He's happy, mellow, inquisitive, confident and eager.

These are a few of the things we have done since Friday:

Friday I was still riding in the halter since he's learned to be so responsive and light to it on the ground. It was easier to focus on forward and moving those big ol' feet letting him work in it. In the round pen, this went really well. When we moved to the big arena Saturday though, he was a lot heavier in it when he decided he wanted to be somewhere (like near the cow pen...he likes those guys). Have you seen that head and neck?!? Ha! We went to the snaffle Saturday, and I'm so pleased with how well he's adjusting to it.

Saturday was a good time working in the arena. He's a big moving dude, so giving him some room to do it, he really gets to work. Since we've focused a lot on the gas pedal and the brakes, his steering wasn't really great yet. Lots of flexing and moving off the leg, and he started to get the hang of it. I don't have him in spurs yet, which is one of the things I've done differently with him than I would have with a domestic horse. Go and whoa are in place now, and he's guiding and flexing better, so they are in the near future. And OHMYGOODNESS please ignore my highwatwater jeans!! howembarassing

Wade was going to a roping early Sunday morning and had the stock trailer hooked up Saturday night. I decided to go ahead and work on loading after our ride. He's so careful and sensible. He was hesitant about backing out, but he got the hang of it.

This guy is really getting to be trusting and brave. It's amazing how when a horse doesn't know he's supposed to fear something, he is quick to accept it. It was a pretty windy night, but Memphis is over his fear of the tarp on the trailer, even when the wind gets under it and blows it right into his face and chest.

On Sunday we worked in the arena first. He was so much better than Saturday. He's guiding much better at all gaits. He was so good I decided we'd go for a little ride outside. He's great in the brush and thick mesquite, and doesn't mind going through ditches. He grabbed a mesquite limb as we went by and it came back and him in the butt. He goosed a little, but didn't overreact. There was some boggy ground in one of the ditches that worried him a little at first too. He quickly got his footing though, and when I went back and asked him to cross it again, he didn't even blink. The dogs came with us and acted as another despookifier :). They flushed some birds and rabbits and my Heeler went flying right by us from behind. It worried him at first, but by the time he got the hang of riding out, the dogs couldn't hardly surprise him. He did try to taste a cactus at one point. Glad I was able to talk him out of it, that couldn't have felt good. ;)