Our walk began with Teddy feeling slightly overwhelmed. I took the opportunity to bring him back to me, and every time he was solely focused on me, he would sigh, lick and chew, and be fine. But then something would catch his eye and he'd be back to freaking out. So the first part of our time together was spent with me patiently bringing him back to me, and lots of disengaging his HQ and getting his thought completely around the turn.
Doing this, we slowly made our way up the hill to the driveway, and he was beginning to feel better about being out and away from his buds. We hung out on the driveway a bit, visiting with my grandpa and my dad. He didn't even flinch when they started up their trucks right next to us, which I was very proud of. Mom then came out, took the picture shown above, and we made our way back to the barn together. All in all, I think I handled what Teddy was going through very well and I am glad he was able to connect so well with me, after not have been out of the pasture for two months.
Next I groomed Woody at Liberty, haltered him, and tacked him up. He was a liiiittle bit resistant to the girth by raising his head slightly, and looking at me when I tightened it, but I figured this was due to the fact he hasn't been saddled in a while. Though those signs may not seem big, I still keep them in mind and try to be aware of them, in order to fix a problem, if there is one, before it escalates.
When I got ready to bridle him, I had to slow down and take my time. He was a little worried about it, so I started with getting him ok with me holding the headpiece between his ears, then little by little, approaching and retreating, I got him ok with the bit resting on his mouth, and he offered to put it in. I took it, and finished bridling.
I took him outside and played with him a bit, wanting him to be with me, have the chance to trot out with the saddle, and jump something to get any bucks out. He did well, so I hopped on, and Mom, who was leading Charlotte, joined us. We mainly went down the driveway, and at first Woody was very forward, so I had to bring him back to me a couple times, and I also had to give him a purpose. I asked him to touch, circle, and stop at rocks, trees, etc. and soon he got into a good frame of mind, and his forwardness had decreased. We didn;t ride for more than 20 minutes, but it was good to get back in the saddle!
We returned to the barn, I untacked, and fed them all cookies, They all did really well, and I'm sure they enjoyed the opportunity to play with us and get to go outside the pasture!
~Eden
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