Colton's Turn

Colton is getting to have all sorts of fun this week :)

First up was playing more in the bridle. He's only worn it a couple times. I put it on him again, taking the time to make sure he lowered his head and held it there while I put the bridle on. Then we went for a walk around the pasture. He was very well behaved, we even managed to have a nice trot where he kept pace with me and didn't go all macho pony and try to show off or be bossy! He gets really amped when I ask him to trot, usually resulting in bucking/rearing and/or trotting ahead of me to show off. So this was a nice improvement. His movement is much nicer than Katy's so I can't wait to see how it translates to undersaddle. He might make a nice dressage pony even with that cresty neck since he can still arch it nicely when he's trotting!

Baby face.

Then we had a big first - I sat on him for the first time. And it wasn't really a big deal. I've been desensitizing him to me jumping up next to him and putting pressure on his back (which he thinks is proof that I'm crazy). So when it came time for me to jump up and put all my weight across his back, he stood stock still and didn't even snort, though he did swing his head around and nibble on my boots. We practiced both sides and since he was being so good, I even sat astride him and he barely offered to move. I'm hoping that based on this behavior the whole backing process is going to be easy-peasy :)

The dreaded weeds have overtaken the roundpen...

Next up for this week is practicing deworming with some applesauce and then the real stuff. Then he's going to wear a surcingle for the first time and I'm working on cleaning out the round pen so that we can work on lunging! Fun, fun, fun. Well, for me that is, I don't think Colton thinks of it with as much excitement as I do, lol.