When You Leave The Reins

"When you leave the reins, you're left with the truth."

We actually managed to get a barn visit in yesterday before it got too hot. My mom had a small medical procedure so she hasn't really been up-to-par but we knew we needed to get down there soon so she just went out and fiddled around with Spirit while I worked with Red. Spirit was not too excited to get caught and ran off but Red walked right to me like he's been doing. So happy that he's not as hard to catch as he used to be! I walked him to the round pen while Spirit ran off with the herd towards the barn for dinner and she got him after a few minutes and tied him to the cross tie and talked to J for awhile as I dabbled with Red. I hopped on tackless for a few minutes and trotting a couple laps in the round pen to see how he'd do without being ridden for over a week (And that ride was like 10 minutes long in English tack...) and he did perfect other than wanting to go get the fresh patch of grass randomly growing in the round pen. I don't blame him considering I did take him from turnout/it's dinnertime/the grass was way greener than what he had been getting. I let him eat for a few minutes and then got his bridle and we rode bareback for about 15-20 minutes. Lots of trotting because it wasn't too hot and he needed a workout. We took it slow and he got lots of breaks for praise and etc, I wanted this to be a fun trip for him too so I didn't want to overwork him. 

I'm gripping too much with my thighs..

Lazy pony.

Once I hopped off, we did some groundwork and just kind of hung out for probably 45 minutes. Freelunged for a few minutes at a walk/trot then we did join up and played. He followed me around for a few minutes and started trotting after me when I would get too far, we worked on some tricks (Smiling and hug, mostly) and I sat with him while he ate.

Taken from a video. Sorry!

 

 I love this one.

He's doing really well with the smile trick even though we haven't done it in forever and I never really worked hard on it. This is his half-hearted attempt without treats, haha! 

So lazy.

 

I also worked more on vocal commands and "sign language" as I call it, haha! Just basics - using the word follow when he needs to follow me somewhere (In this situation, when I needed him to come and get his halter back on) the word come when I need him to come and stand where I am, the word stand when I need him to stay still and the words left and right when he needs to go another direction. Right now I've been able to steer him without leg pressure or reins by using the vocal words and showing him the direction with my hands, and on the ground I'm able to just point to where he needs to go. I think when he gets home I'll add some obstacles to the mix.

After a few minutes of him playing and trotting after me and working more with him on picking up his hooves (he's so lazy with it) and etc, I let him roam around, pick some grass and chill out with me before I turned him back out.

Handsome poneh. Not so chubby anymore, yay!

Hmm which piece of grass is yummier?

 No edit, I like his coat color this year.

Much better grass!

Om nom nom.

All in all, it was a great little visit. Gives me a peek into everyday life when I get him home!