Training

Today was the day Ayanna, Indy and Killian were going to be introduced to a rider. The school district Karin works for closed early, she arranged to meet Rhoda the rider in the afternoon. The wind was howling, slamming into the barn, the rain soon turned to sleet and then snow and that wasn't very quiet as it was hitting the roof and walls of the indoor arena. Ayanna was the first brought in, not surprisingly she was jumpy and spooky but soon settled down. After a few minutes of round pen reasoning she was saddled and bridled.

She was worked a bit more then taken into the middle of the arena where she was asked to stand next to the mounting block with Rhoda up above her.

While Karin held Ayanna Rhoda moved the mounting block from side to side each time resting most of her weight on Ayanna's back. Ayanna didn't even tense up, she was just curious. The next step was the mount.

We were very pleased with how she reacted that and ended on a good note with her. Next out was Indy. Karin and Rhoda followed the same routine with her.

Indy was even easier than Ayanna.

Once the saddle and bridle was off, Rhoda brought her over to the bridge so we could stick her. Indy at 2 and a half years old sticks at 15.3 hands. The next horse worked was Killian, now Killian won't be 2 years old until the end of April so he was not expected to work much. The tarp was on the ground and he just walked right over it. We just wanted him to accept the bit and saddle. Once the saddle was off, he was taken over and sticked at 15.2 hands. This boy is going to be HUGE!

He was standing so quietly Rhoda decided to just sit on him bareback.

He could care less about someone up there, he just wanted to be with Karin. While he was put away, Rhoda grabbed Eliza while I got Marika out and brought her over to meet Jenis and Zalena. By the time Karin and I made it back into the barn our cheeks were frozen. The temperature had dropped from mid 30s to low 20s with wind gusts probably around 30 to 40 miles an hour. We were glad to be in by the heater. Rhoda was just about to climb on Eliza.

Eliza is such a gorgeous mare, she looked so big after working with the young ones we decided to stick her also. She sticked at 16.2 hands. The boys were brought in next but it was time to get supper started so I didn't stick around to watch Karin and Rhoda worked the boys. I heard later they were excellent. Mike and Diane drove the red van to church filling it with mom, Mark, me and their 2 grand daughters. Craig Sticking had the service on leadership.