Progress!!

So... Mr. Dan the man... had some fun today. After having the weekend off... literally without any human contact! I was gone with Fleck and poor Mike got called in to work so he didn't really do anything with them. But they had access to the grass pasture 24/7, so they survived. But I figured that since he had been without contact for a few days, he may have reverted back to a feral pony. Ha ha! Not so much. He was a good boy. But holy moses, he really is Little Flecker!!! I may seriously have to change his name....

Fed them tonight and both Fleck and Dan are both.... eating, then looking up out into the distance staring at something. Then Dan walks out of his stall to stare closer... just like Fleck does. Goobers.... And both have grain ALL over their faces... and proceed to slime me in the process. Sigh.. But Danny needs to learn a little thing called personal space and STAY OUT OF IT! I came awfully close to getting clonked in the head a few times. Not on purpose, but he needs a lesson in "this is my bubble, this is yours".

So after dinner they went out to the front field and I set up a small vertical (like...12" maybe) and then the tarp. Got Danny haltered and we worked on yielding to pressure, which he was great at. Although much better in his haunches than with his shoulders. Then we went and investigated the tarp. Which.. he's already played with it and drug it around the pasture when it was on the ground, but now that it was hanging up, it deserved a second look.. and then a big crunchy bite and tug. Hee hee.. So then we worked on our triangles. Man, that's harder than it looks. I don't know why... well, I do.. but it's hard to turn them away from you. But we managed it at the trot even. And he only broke into a canter a few times. We trotted through the high grass and I guess it tickled him cause he got all fancy :) Then we walked over the vertical, which Danny rocked back and jumped! Then we trotted the vertical and he jumped it nicely and politely. Yay! So then I let him go eat. But then I thought... hmmm... so I pulled the step stool up next to him and stood up on top of it... then leaned on his back a little... Not all my weight but enough. Nothing.... Then I swung a leg over... not my butt or body, just a leg. And no response. Then we did the other side and I might have felt the start of a humpy buck starting but it could have also been that he was swishing a fly. But nothing happened and I did it a few more times with no real response other than him getting to where he was moving away from me. :)

So yay.. Success :) It's about time to get him aquantated with the hose. Sponges and buckets are fine, but hoses spouting water are still scary. And clippers...and then braiding. We're aiming for the FEH show in August at Cedar Ridge :)