2009-2010 May

Obviously, I haven't been writing, but that doesn't mean we haven't been doing anything. After the South Dakota ride in June 2009, we went camping in August, in the Medicine Bows, southern Wyoming with two other couples and their Tennessee Walkers. We had a great time, a couple of challenging rides (for me) and Tim did some workouts separating Brego & Strider, by leaving one tied to the trailer while taking the other one away. Everything helps, but we are still working on Brego's separation issues.

The first week of September was the Fort Robinson APHA ride again. We felt that Brego & I weren't ready to tackle being separated from Tim & Strider, so we left Brego home and I rode Cody for the week. Although I was sad to leave Brego, I was glad to feel very comfortable and relaxed on Cody, and even entered a trail trial team competition. My team won the beginner category. Good for Cody!

Brego still gets a bit freaked out if the other horses leave him behind, and gets nutty trying to catch up. One day when we were out at Smith Lake, Tim and another friend on Cody went ahead. I kept Brego back for a bit, but when I let him catch up he took off running faster than I've ever gone, got quite bouncy, and I couldn't slow him down. He seemed like he was going to run right into Strider & Cody, then stopped so fast I fell off. I was prepared and rolled off, so it wasn't too bad for me, and fortunately I didn't get stepped on. This did rattle my confidence a bit. Since then we've practiced cantering and stopping, and I'm gaining in confidence. Tim has also begun to help me with cantering and learning to get Brego into the correct lead, which is helping me feel much more comfortable riding the canter as well. Next time he takes off, perhaps I'll do better.

In March we attended some clinics at the Rocky Mtn. Horse Expo in Denver with Moses Woodson, who specializes in gaited horses. He was teaching some ground and saddle work to help strengthen their hindquarters, get them more collected, and smooth out their gait. We've begun to do some of these exercises with Brego & Strider, and hopefully they'll ride more smoothly. I'm sure just the time spent with me and Brego continues to give us a better partnership.