Playing Off the Ground

Yesterday I went out to play with Woody and while I was sitting up at the barn reading a magazine next to Woody, Charlotte came moseying up to us. She looked bored so I decided to use her to play with Woody. I got her halter on, tied her 12-foot line into reins, and used the chair I had been sitting on to mount her. She stood still, sleeping probably, and I grabbed Woody's lead line from where I'd thrown it over his back and off we went, Charlotte leading and Woody following behind her. We went under the big trees and I gave them a couple of leaves that they couldn't reach, and then I decided to try to play the circle game with Woody from Charlotte's back. It didn't work out very well because I didn't have a carrot stick to help him go forward, but at least we tried. We then went all the way across the pasture, with Woody walking right beside us until we got to the log near the gate. I decided to position Charlotte near the log, and let her sit while I tried to get Woody to put his two front feet over the log. He did it when I asked him to, so I gave them both half a piece of a cookie I had in my pocket. This made them both more willing to try to do things for me because they thought, "O! She might give me a cookie if I do this!" I rode Charlotte back to the barn, leading Woody, and then dismounted her. I then decided that since they were both getting along, I should keep going. I tied Woody's line into reins, and mounted him from the chair (not before getting 1 more cookie to use for incentive), and then off we went, with Charlotte trailing behind Woody. We mostly just walked around the pasture a little bit, and then I decided that I wanted to ride Woody around without Charlotte. So I positioned Charlotte's head close to me, took off her halter, and hung it on a nearby tree. After that Woody and I mainly just walked around the pasture, going from one side of the pasture to the other, then called it a day.
They both did really well with being really close to each other. I was particularly proud of Charlotte for not biting Woody and being tolerant him so close to her. I think it was good for them to be able to play near each other and Woody handled it well seeing as how he had never done it before.
Things to work on: Keep providing Woody with variety and keep teaching how to do new things in a fun way.
~Eden