The end of the semester was a whirlwind of activity both at school and at the rescue! School is out for the summer now, so I have more time for blogging and for playing with the ponies. My plan for the summer is posts on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I also have notes from several conferences and clinics from this spring that I plan to type up over the next two to three weeks.
Tex the pony is doing awesome! I’ve lost count, but he’s had about 20 rides now. He has had two people other than me ride him and he did absolutely great for both of them.
Recently, I’ve been riding him a lot around the yard and in our pastures, both bareback and with a saddle. We are even doing a bit of trotting out in the open! Every now and then he will stop and look at something when he is uncertain. However, he very rarely spooks. He knows that if he stops and gets a bit concerned, we’ll give him time to figure out that the “scary” thing really isn’t that scary.
Tex and I have been doing lots of targeting under saddle around the yard. We’ll walk up to the tractor, lawn mower, trash can, or various pieces of farm equipment. Once he touches it, he gets a treat. He’s learning that strange things are worth approaching and investigating, rather than running away from. Hopefully this summer we’ll start going on short rides down the road so he can get off the property some and start exploring the world!