Mellow Yellow

Its a new year and I'm getting over a bad cold. Thanksgiving and Christmas have passed and I've been kept busy with decorating, baking and family get togethers. But we are having a Wisconsin January thaw and it is wonderful. Temps in the upper 30s mean I can work in the arena without too much trouble with hands and toes going numb.

Yesterday, Lisa came out to mess with the horses. While we are on vacation in February, she's volunteered to help out. She's never saddled or bridled a horse or really had the full responsibility so we will take every opportunity to get her some experience beforehand. We handled all three horses, but her alergies got the best of her before we could think about riding.

Today, was another warm day - around 40 degrees. After loading more hay and doing a major cleanup (we aren't able to clean the loafing shed as regularly as in the summer), I took the horses one by one in the arena. Lisa had trouble with Sparkler yesterday leading, but she's better today. Banjo is starting to believe that I'm not going to hurt him. It's getting easier to catch and halter him and I can see much more trust in his eyes.

Now, Gilly! He's such a mellow fellow. I slipped the bridle on, took him over to the mounting block and got on bareback. I don't know if he's ever been ridden bareback, but I suspect so. He took some coaxing to start, but once we got going, we walked and walked. Serpentine figures between the cones using mostly leg pressure. No backup, but I don't expect perfection. It was so much fun, I can't stop thinking about it.