Shared Minds Training

After a year being leased out, I finally got Rhodie back! It’s nice having my other half back so we can become a team again. Hopped on after giving him a few days to settle in to the new barn to see where he was at physically. There had been mention about him being lame, so I took my time. I hand walked him to make sure I didn’t see any major issues there, then moved on to a short lunge in both directions to see if he was sound. After evaluating and noting that he was indeed sound, I got on and took a short ride to see how he felt. And he was great! A part from him being stiff (which has always been an issue, and I have exercised to help with) he was pretty much the horse that I sent off to be leased. What an amazing feeling! I’m so excited to see where this year takes us!

So if anyone is wondering where Cayman and I have come on our journey so far, since I never post anything, we are currently on our way to Colorado to attend an Anna Twinney c**t starting clinic. I have yet to successfully place a saddle on her without her broncing, so I am really looking forward to this clinic. There is so much that we can both learn, and I am excited to see how this will effect the way we work together!

Today I spent an hour on showmanship with Cayman. I really pushed her on stopping RIGHT with me, no matter the gait. She did forget at the beginning but after a while she remembered and was really good! I also worked on backing in a straight line. This has been the one thing we have consistently struggled with this whole time, so I try to work on it often. I also brought up pivots again and she did really well! And then we also worked on when to start side passing. That also took her a while - more so on her left side than her right side. After a bit she made progress and that's where I ended the session today.