Bonita update – Week Two

Wednesday – I tied Bonita alone in the arena, while I cleaned stalls and did chores. She was great, but for a couple of whinnies. Then I tried my Wintec AP saddle on her. It looks like a good fit, so I added a pad and girth. I spent about an hour with her. I spent some time getting her used to having the lead rubbed on her head and neck. I wanted to be able to swing the rope over her head to the far side of her neck to bring it around her rump and ask for a yield. She wasn’t crazy about the idea at first, but end up okay with it. She was reassured with pats and head down moments and rewarded with quiet time to stand with me. I also did a little ground tying practice.

Then I brought out the mounting block. I asked her to lunge around me, while I stood on it. She wasn’t at all too sure about that! We did get to a few turns each way, but she much preferred to stop and look at me up there. I like doing odd things like this with to get my horses used to the unusual. In between, I brought her close in and leaned my weight into the saddle, patting her on the far side and rump. She was really good about this and could have cared less.

All throughout, I wiggled the saddle, slapped the leathers around, pulled on it, etc. She hasn’t offered even the hint of a buck yet. In a way, I wish that she would…

Thursday – I put her in the cross ties to see how she did. I cleaned her stall, while she stood there very nicely. Then she had a good grooming. She is shedding big time! It’s been raining and cold, so I decided to try one of my sheets on her. Cora’s old teal blue one fit well. I worked with her a few times on putting the sheet on over her head. She is not entirely okay with it, but did stand for it. This will be something to return to and work more on.

Friday - My friend, Pam came out. She has been wanting to long line one of my horses for a while. She was going to work with Paisano, so that shows you how long. Instead, she got to learn from Vinnie. He was an excellent teacher and she was able to work him in walk and trot, extending and shortening both gaits with some very nice halts thrown in.

All during this, Bonita was tied in the arena watching. I wanted her to see this and learn. I took the surcingle off Vin and flopped it around Bonita a bit before putting it on her. After Pam put Vinnie away, I worked Bonita on the ground in a bosal. Then with Pam back in the arena, I tried her with long lines. She took to it pretty well and after a few turn in both directions with turns and stops, I stripped her tack and we hung out a bit.

There was a tarp in the corner of the arena, so I tried dragging it around to see if she would follow me. She was pretty wary, watching it closely. I left it on the ground and went to see if she would come with me to check it out. She would only get up to about 10′, so I haltered her and we worked a bit more. She was much more brave with the support of the halter and I was able to have her eventually come up, nuzzle the tarp and put a foot on it. All in all, it was a good day with some nice progress made. All the pictures from that day are here on Flickr.

Sunday – I trimmed her feet this morning. She’s just fine with that. Then Pam came and we took video. I’ll let them speak for themselves in the next post.