Day Thirty Three: Kristen bits up Happy in the round pen for me. As I approach the round pen I see that Happy is having some trouble keeping his focus for the mare in the pasture next to the round pen is in full heat. Eventually I will expect my stud to keep working with a mare in heat next to him but Happy is just learning there is a time and a place for these feeling, so it is best to take the mare out of the pasture and work happy without the added distraction . Set yourself up to win, he will learn that lesson when he is better broke and I can keep his attention by doing things he already knows like roll him backs and spinning him, putting that energy to work, so for now I take the mare out and continue his lesson. He is still focused on where the mare went and I have to round pen him some more until he is listening. I step up and ask him to guide around the pen, I am happy with Happy for he is right where I left him the last time I rode him and I can easily guide him around the pen. Twoday I ask him for a little more. I want him to drift out of the circle by taking a step across himself to the outside of the circle keeping his body arced with the arc of the circle. Just one or two steps is all I want, giving ground, making the circle bigger. I do this first so I can hold him up in a circle without him dropping his shoulder and heading for the gate. I keep working one side until he will float over when asked, then go the other way. He is good to the left again and pushes to the left. I have to kick him over today. He gets irritated with me and starts to trot. I take his head around to my leg and wait until he relaxed again. I keep working his left side until he floats over when asked. Horses are really sensitive and so much is lost when first getting started if you go to fast and hard. I want my horse to find that sweet spot. Horses think much slower than we do. He feels hard at this point only because he just doesn’t know what I want, so take the time to show him before going any faster.

Day Thirty Two: I have to leave and teach a clinic so Khristen stays home and works Happy for me. She lunged him until he was done playing and then just sat on him while he walked around the round pen. He walk around both direction so she left it at that, not wanting to mess up my horse at this point. Good girl and that is why I feel good about Kristen working for me.



Here is Khristen with Big Boy, A 2002 stallion I started and who I just got back in training for her to ride in the Reining Drill Team I am trying to get together.

Day Thirty One: Now that Happy has carried a rider at a walk, trot and lope, staying relax he is ready to ride solo. My main goal at this point is to start teaching guide. The wind is blowing and it’s cold today so I work happy in the indoor lunging him until he is done playing. I mount and start out asking him to walk a small circle, following his nose around, without someone to direct him he starts to wander around trying to go where he want to go. I start to bump him with my legs when he wanders trying to guide him back around the circle. He gets a little scared when he wanted to go the gate and I insist he guide where I want him to go, He tucks his ass and looks back at me. I pull his head around to my leg until he relaxes and then let him out on a bigger circle again. I start out going in a circle and then try to get him to move out straight, after he will walk forward straight staying relax I change directions. Working one side until he starts to guide and listen then I work the other direction. Horses learn each side separately, doing something on one side doesn’t transfer over to the other side and I have found working one direction at a time works best. It’s important to go slow and keep it simple. All I need from him at this point is him to understand why I’m bumping him with my leg and for him to move off. He is good to the left and I can guide him in a circle, When I go to the right, the pigeons start two fight with the owl nesting in my indoor, Happy gets a little nervous and leans into the presser getting a little rude pushing his way to the gate. I work him until he will walk a circle to the right and then quit. Less in more and so keep it simple and he will retain his lesson and progress a little each day.

Day Thirty: Kristen took Happy to the round pen and lunged him for me. It was time for me to start riding Happy. I stepped up and noticed he looked more mature now and his eye looks softer. I see him everyday so it’s hard to see him growing but it’s been a while sense I have been on him. Kristen sends Happy on the lunge line and he started off at a trot. It would have been nice to start at a walk but off we go at a trot settling into the trot I noticed he has a nice trot and then Kristen sends Happy the other direction, without telling me, Happy is so deliberate in his movement I see why Kristen started to giggle. We stop and talk about what a trip it is to ride him. I ask Happy to go around the pen at a walk and trot and then the lope. When I got to the lope I was laughing. His movement isn’t what I look for in a Reining Horse so I never really took notice. He has way to much knee action at the lope for my taste but now riding him was totally different. He is smooth to ride so that is a plus. I can feel him lope up underneath himself and to tell you the truth I really didn’t see that at all, he always looks so gangly to me. This horse is teaching me to see thing differently. This is getting funner;0)