At Long Last!

It feels like a thousand years since Sunday. School makes the days seem longer anyway, but four days without Gambler are four loooong days.

I finally got out to see him last night! Sadly, we left the camera at home, so I don't have any pictures. It was really too dark to get good photos anyway.

In regard to my last post, I didn't spend a lot of time longeing Gambler, or messing around with the saddle like I have lately. Instead, I tied a bandanna to the end of my carrot stick and introduced Gambler to the "flag." He loved it. As I suspected, he wanted to eat it, which is why I didn't use a plastic bag. We played the Friendly Game, until he was confident and curious (which didn't take long). Then we worked--ahem, played-- the Driving Game. Interestingly, Gambler yields his forequarters and hindquarters way better with the flag than with anything else. He doesn't want to circle with the flag though, because he would rather chase the flag than walk away from it.

We ended our session with some more liberty. I wasn't sure how well that was going to go because I haven't played with him since Sunday. He did okay. At a walk, he circles quite politely. Last night we played with spiraling in and out at liberty at the walk. However, since I haven't been out to see him, he has gotten fat and lazy.

** Insert Freakout ** How does a horse get fat in four days!

So when I asked for the trot at liberty, his answer was something along the lines of, "Hmmmm, nah. I think I'll just walk faster and toss my head a little. That's okay right?" We'll work on that more--Ahhhhh, I caught myself. We'll play with trotting at liberty tomorrow or next Sunday.

One last thing, I tried some bell boots on Gambler yesterday. I'm not sure if they fit him, they could be too big. He was a total sweetheart when I was putting them on/taking them off, which is awesome, because I think that was the first time he's ever had boots on. The reason I think that is: one, he never had a need for boots at his old home, and two, the beautiful Spanish walk he pulled off when I asked him to walk in boots. Maybe someday I can teach him to do it on his own, but for now I'll enjoy the show while he figures out how to walk with little monsters on his hooves. I'm really sorry I didn't get that on camera!