Horsing Around...

So as of late I have been riding Bodie and Rylee six times a week and giving them a rest on Sunday. (Today would be an exception, it's raining and I'm not a fan of riding in the mud. Not the best combination with silly horses.) Both Bodie and Rylee are progressing tremendously in their training, and I'm happy to say that Rylee no longer refuses to go across wet black pavement and Bodie is no longer terrified of wagon wheels. Why these things upset them, I have no idea. But after enough reassuring and desensitizing the boys have really settled down into the groove of things. It's been really nice having my mom and my siblings go riding with me, as now that I have access to two horses all the time someone can ride with me. Don't get me wrong, I like riding by myself sometimes, but for the most part I enjoy having a riding partner. It makes things more interesting and safe. When I go out with my siblings or my mom I always ride Bodie (as he's not ready for anyone else to ride except myself and one other sister who is a fantastic horsewoman.) and my family always rides Rylee. Rylee has become a favorite amongst my family, and everyone's always commenting on how nice and quiet he is. Not exactly what you expect a Thoroughbred to be, but he is!


I've also been teaching Rylee some tricks. Pretty simple things, (like letting me do weird things on him) but still, it's fun. Here's a couple of pictures of some of the things I've done with him.

Taking Rylee through an obstacle course I built myself. These are the 'swinging doors' I created. :) Notice that I'm not leading him, he's walking in after me!

Walking over a tarp all by himself. What a good boy he is! :D

Bareback and bridless. Oh yeah! :)

What's wrong with this picture? ;)

Oh, that's what's wrong!

I was trying to do a shooting stance in this picture, where I am halfway off the horse and pointing a gun, but I slipped on Sir Furriness and was laughing as I nearly toppled off of him. Good Rylee, he didn't move at all. :)

Horses can wear helmets too!

This was a proud day for me. It has been said that Rylee will buck you off if you ride double on him. My brave friend and I decided to test this out, and we survived! Not that Rylee would have cared anyways. He looks REALLY naughty in this photo, doesn't he? ;)

This was taken two nights ago. Once more Rylee could care less, though I wish he'd stop flexing when I'm standing on him. :) (Flexing is when a horse touches his side with his nose, it's a sign of submission that I trained Rylee to do. It kind of throws you off balance though when you're standing. :D)

Hope you enjoyed the pictures! Next week: Nicolai Dobzhansky the Rooster will give you an inside tour of the Global Coop and what it takes to run such an operation!