I love my horse.

I haven't been doing too much lately. With school back in session, my rides have no been as frequent or long. I have been doing some ring work and trail work. He seems to do better on the trails though. I have been wokring on getting his trot slow and collected. Once I can get him to do this, I can ask him to extend his stride at the trot into a nice working trot.

I have been doing the usual ring work. Bending, counterbending, going straight, using his hind end, circles, serpentines blah blah. The list could go on. Yesterday I decided to try him western. I have always thought he would be a good western horse and pictured us doing western in the future. We had a western saddle, but it didn't fit him. We tried Mary-Kate's saddle, still didn't fit him. Luckily, our friends "S" and "S" came to our rescue and tracked down a trail saddle for us. Thanks again guys!

I worked on really getting him collected and using his hind end to get a jog. Surprisingly, after only a few times around posting, I was able to sit and get him underneath himself. For a few times around in each direction, we actually had a nice jog going! It felt like we were trotting in place and his trot felt really smooth and comfy. He was able to do it alot easier in his good way and could get it his bad way but he drifted off the rail a lot more. After I rode him for a bit, I asked my Dad if he wanted to get on. He grabbed a helmet and hopped right on! Here are some pics:

Dad practicing his steering

Walking around

Turning around a barrel

Look like a western horse!

Look at Jet's face!

Look at dad's face!

It's love (:

 

Today Dad went on his first trail ride on Jet. I was at school when it happened so no pics :( Him and Mom went for a trail ride at Hobby Horse all by themselves. Dad brushed Jet all on his own, then Mom helped him tack up and get on. From what I was told, Dad did great and so did Jet! They had to figure out how eachother worked at first but after Dad got steering down again, they were golden. I heard that Jet took great care of Dad, even though the only walked, and they had a great time! Dad's butt was sore for a few hours after the ride since he isn't used to sitting in a saddle for 40 minutes. Dad wants to get shoes on Jet because he saw how ouchy he was on the rocks. So hopefully he will get shoes on! After they got home, Dad ran to the store and got Jet a big 5lb bag of carrots. Jet was veryyyy happy to get the carrots and will happily give my Dad a ride anytime he wants one. I love my horse.

-Emily and Jet