Sonny on the Trails cont.

Sonny and I have had 3 rides out on the trials and Lisa is cutting us loose. I can control him and he is beginning to trust that I will not get him into trouble. We have gone over bridges, across water, under a busy overpass, and had kids, bikes and joggers share the trial with us. Sonny will go back to Rick and Marti's until the Lucky B has room for him. I have been going down to work with him about twice a week. Trying to ride but it has been too damn hot.

Sonny and my first ride outside the arena

The day started off pretty badly. I got half way to Longmont before I realized that I had forgotten the keys to the trailer. I had wanted to take the other saddle in to try on Sonny. But with no keys that was going to be impossible. The day proceded downhill from there. When I arrived at Marti's not only was the wireless card in her laptop not being seen, it was not showing any power going to the card. I was able to correct both problems by enabling the card in device manager. This allowed the laptop to see the card and the driver to load. Then she could not print thru the network. I could print from the other computer so just deleted the printer from her laptop and reconnected and all was well.
I got out to Lisa's and she had a saddle for Sonny and I. He did not try any of the evasions with her saddle, so I will start to look for a new saddle when I get back from my vacation. Sonny and I did our first ride on the road and he did great. We rode for about an hour and a half and I had to leave.

Sonny and I start a new journey

Well, today Sonny and I started work again. He is well on his way to becoming all that I dreamed he would be. Lisa has increased his confidence in his rider and she managed to get that confidence to transfer to me. We had a great ride in the arena today. But there was one bad spot, looks like I will be in the market for a new saddle. My current Circle Y is cramping his right shoulder. Sonny is showing this by acting up under the saddle. Lisa said that he was pulling some new stunts she had not seen before. I will look for a new saddle when I get back from vacation in July. Sonny has always had a problemw with his right lead, but that seems to be how he is, not a function of the saddle as he does it under different riders and different saddles as well as while lunging. But back to the lesson.

1. Keep my head up, those ears will not fall off if I don't look at them. Sonny goes better when I am with him and paying attention to where we are going, not where we are.

2. His going over poles and thru water is a measure of the respect that he has for me, not just obedience.

3. Reinforce his respect for me by ground work before getting on. Lisa does it by makeing sure he is paying attention to her by expecting him to stop off of her body not the lead.

4. Stay out of his face when he is doing right.

5. Use a rollback to get out of a tight spot where I think he may start acting up. What I call a one rein stop, only keep spinning him to another rollback till he quiets down.

I am looking foreward to my next ride. Lisa is going to take Sonny and I out on the trail on Tues. This will be our last ride until I return from MN.

June 4th

Today I started a new chapter in my life as a riding horse. I taken from my home and friends to a new stable by my owner. I was not frightened as we had done this many times before. I have a big lot all to my self and I did find an old friend all ready here. My brother who is 2 years younger than I tells me he has been here for along time, but that it is an OK place to be. The hay is good and not too much work, but you do have to mind. I wonder what my owner has in mind for me this time.