Riding Lucky

The last couple nights I’ve had fun sessions with Lucky.

Last night it was very very windy with a front coming through. Our entire session consisted of lots of TTouches while I stood on the mounting block, settling him enough to get on. Mane slides, forelock slides, connected clouded leopard along his neck and back. I would move the mounting block around his body to work from different angles.

When he finally dropped his head and licked & chewed, I got on and repeated some TTouches on his neck and withers. When he again relaxed enough to loosen his neck, drop his head & chew, we walked through the labyrinth. It took several times through for him to calm enough to negotiate all the turns. One decent pass through and we called it good.

Tonight, I really took my time tacking him up and leading him out. Lots more TTouches, mainly abalone and clouded leopard, all over his body. Plus tiny clouded leopard ttouches on his face and forelock slides (he LOVES forelock slides).

At the mounting block I did one round of EFT on “Riding Lucky is fun & easy”. (He likes to stand with his nose touching my hands while I do EFT. )

We had a great ride, doing hindquarter yields, opening his shoulders, stopping & backing. He did the labyrinth much better. And we were able to do bigger & bigger circles, starting so tiny they were almost turns on the forehand, then getting bigger until we were doing sweeping figure 8s. By the end he was walking calmly & with energy, dropping his head and bending.

I led him on a walk down the road to finish out our time together. He does like to stop suddenly to watch every new thing. Tonight, we learned about ground hogs and rabbits. He stays close to me and stands his ground, and will move forward again after investigating. He will match his speed to mine, even when we head for home, walking, jogging or stopping on a totally loose rein.

I’m finding that my confidence in him, and my confidence in my own ability to cope with whatever he does is growing. When we were riding, he did a bit of dancing around, and even leaped forward, and I stayed on and calm.

I’m still riding him bareback, as I find my balance is better and I can feel his movement more. He is also more calm bareback.

I’m planning to reintroduce the saddle in the next couple days.

I’m so thrilled with his progress, and mine! Thank goodness for TTEAM, EFT and Waterhole Rituals.