Ponying 101

The last of the beautiful weather was yesterday. What a depressing thought. I hope it comes back soon.

In any case, I decided that I still needed to do something with the equines, and myself- and I really didnt feel like going for another jog. So I decided to teach them how to pony and be ponied.

I dont know if Cabo has ever ponied before- but he did yesterday! LOL All that rope twirling and flinging paid off- because he didn't care at all when the rope was hitting him on his scary right side.

Cassie, I think has been ponied- probably when she was with Jon, because she knew what she was doing. She didn't take too nicely to swapping sides and being led from her right- something to work on because I think she should follow from both. In all fairness, I really dont lead her enough from the right- so she'd be equally as stiff on the ground too.

All in all, I think it was a great exercise for both horses. Cabo seemed to really like being boss man- I had him going walk/trot- and he really liked to go withuot too much attention being paid to him. Cassie liked to follow along- so it suited her as well. It suited the rider because she had so much to think about that her riding, based on the mirrors, was actually pretty good, LOL.

The great news is that my western saddle fits Fat Boy pretty well. Nice even sweat, no pinching shoulders. I need to ride in it more to break it in.

The not-so-great part of ponying was that Cassie is the bigger horse. Technically I should pony off of something that is stronger than her- but oh well. If she were really rank I wouldnt have tried it. Cabo was funny though- at one point, during our attempt to pony her from her right side- she stuck, and Cabo couldnt figure out how to go forward. So we had to go around, effectively disengaging her hinds and fronts a little for her to unstick her feet, rewarding when she moved. Just took a little creativity- not pure muscle.

After our 101 session in the arena, I took them out and went for a walk outside, right where we jogged the day before. It was getting chilly by then, so we went for one lap- but both horses did awesome. Had to cross water, pass barking dogs and a dude weed eating- no issues.

Tonight they won't get any work because I have to work late and go to a dinner- so it'll be all I can do to run up there to do chores.

But Thursday is another day!