Progress

That's what Mom calls it. She says we're making Progress. I'm not sure what that is but I think it's a good thing and I do know that I'm learning a lot of fun stuff.

Every day Mom comes to the barn and we go to the Round Pen and work. We have a Routine. I greet her at the door of my stall with a whinny and a couple of happy nickers because I know we're going to have fun together. She gives me a kiss on my nose, right where the snip is, and then she takes my halter off the hook by my door and says, "Face." That means I have to put my nose out so she can put the halter on and I like to do it. It's one of my tricks and I think probably the first one I learned because I've been doing that one for a long time.

Then she gets me out of my stall and ties me up just outside the door. Sometimes there are some hay scraps on the ground that I can eat and sometimes the hay truck comes while we're getting ready so I have a whole big pile of hay. I snack while Mom brushes me all over and cleans the dirt out of my feet and then she puts my wraps on.

I have lots of different wraps but the ones I usually wear are pretty because they're red. The ones on my front legs are sort of shaped and stiff with fasteners that attach and hold them on tight. I have one wrap that covers my leg from just under my knee then down over my fetlocks and another wrap called a Bell Boot that goes over my hoof. Then in the back I have some wraps called Polo Wraps. I don't know why they're called that but I love them! They're very soft and kind of fuzzy; I like to rub my nose on them when my mom first gets them out. They're VERY pretty, red with black hearts all over them. Mom wraps them around and around my leg and then attaches them with more of that stickyt stuff like the stuff on my front wraps. She calls it Velcro.

Once I have all my wraps on, it's time to go to work. Mom grabs her Bag Stick and unties my lead and we walk to the Round Pen. I used to be awful when I walked on my lead! I'd pull hard against it and push my shoulder into my mom, and I'd get excited and turn in circles, and twirl, and rear, and strike out my front feet. Sometimes I'd even kick out my hind feet. I don't do any of that anymore. I've Learned. It's just not Manners and my mom doesn't like it and she won't put up with it anymore. She says I'm a Big Girl now and I have to Behave.

At first, she made me behave by shaking that Bag Stick at me when I acted bad on the lead. It really made me listen. The first time she used it, I was surprised. I didn't realize she could do that outside of the Round Pen and I realized I'd better start paying attention to my mom all the time because she was tougher than I thought she was. Now she hardly ever has to use it. Every once in a while, I get distracted and forget my Manners and she gives it a light shake and that's all I need to remind me.

When we get to the Round Pen, she puts me inside and slips off my halter. Then she sets up my Cones. She always puts them in the same spots. We use three of them now. Mom says that's because I'm so smart. We don't play the Cone Game right off though. First we free lunge and she lets me trot and canter a lot which is nice because I really need to get my energy out after being cooped up in a stall.

Once I've had some time to warm up, she starts asking me to change direction. She does that by changing hands with the Bag Stick and motioning with her empty hand. It's easy. I'm just supposed to quickly turn and go the other way at the same pace I was going the first way. Sometimes I get a little lazy about it, or I keep going in the same direction a little too long. Then she reminds me with the Bag Stick that we're working and I have to be a Good Girl and I generally do it right after that.

Then we play our Cone Game where I stop at each of the Cones when she tells me to. That's my favorite game because if I do it really, really well I get a cookie.

Usually we go for a walk in the Flat Arena or out on the road after that but a few days ago, we did something a little different. Mom put on my halter but instead of leading me out of the Round Pen, she got my saddle and bridle and put them on me! I was surprised and a little nervous - I haven't been ridden since that day I was cranky and mad and didn't behave well. But Mom was very relaxed and calm and that made me feel a little better.

Once I was all set, she got on my back and began riding me right there in the Round Pen. I was sort of tense still as she asked me to walk around it but then we got to the first Cone and I felt her weight deepen in the saddle and she touched my mouth with the reins and said, "Whoa." She said it just like she does when we play our game and I immediately knew what we were doing - we were doing the Cone Game with my mom on my back!

I was happy then. That's something I know how to do. I stopped nicely and she patted my neck and praised me then she asked me to walk on and I did. Sure enough, when we reached the next Cone, she asked me to whoa again.

I have to say it was really nice. You see, a lot of times when my mom has been on my back, I haven't really understood what it was that she wanted me to do. She's always nice about it, and I try really hard to be good, but I think those times that I have done the right thing, it's been more of a lucky guess than anything else. But this time, I knew exactly what I was doing and it made all the difference. I was so relaxed and happy and we rode around lots of times and stopped at those Cones.

Then we did something different. Instead of asking me to stop, or to keep walking toward the next Cone, Mom gently pulled the rein nearest to the fence so my head was kind of turned toward her foot. While she did that, she was poking at my side with her heel - the one on the same side that she was pulling me toward - and she was saying, "Turn."

I was kind of confused about that at first but she was patient and I suddenly realized that "turn" is what she says when she wants me to change direction while we're lunging. I started moving my back feet around so my front would face the other way and she immediately let the rein relax and called me a Good Girl so I knew I was right. I swung around then and we went the other way and played more Cone Game.

Then she asked me to turn again. This was a little harder. For some reason, it was kind of hard to figure out where to put my feet going that way and I had to really think about it a little bit. Again she was patient and just waited while I got it straight, gently using her rein and heel until I got moving and then easing up with them so I knew I was doing the right thing.

Even though we didn't do anything more than walk, it felt like we did a lot on that ride. I felt like I understood a lot more of what I was supposed to be doing and it felt like my mom knew it. She was really happy with me and when she got off she petted me lots and told me what a Good Girl I am. Then we went for our walk but she led me with my bridle instead of my lead.

Since then we haven't ridden again but we've kept up the other work and it's been fun. One day instead of doing it in the Round Pen, we did it in the Flat Arena with me on the lunge line. I hadn't worked on a line in a long time but Mom set up the Cones just the way they always are so I knew what we were doing and I just worked like I always do. She was happy with me that day too. In fact, she's happy with me most days now which is nice.

Just yesterday in fact, she put down her Bag Stick while we were walking in the Flat Arena and we finished up our walk without it. I remembered my Manners and didn't get fussy or pushy or anything. I didn't even pull toward the grass when we went out to the road to walk back to my stall. I think she was happiest of all about that.

So things are going well. Lots of times my mom lets me graze after our workout and the picture is from one of those days. She took it with that little box thing that she talks to sometimes so maybe that's why the color is a little funny. The grass wasn't a funny color though. It was nice green and it tasted delicious.