I'm happy!

I posted!! I'm so happy that I finally can do it, Hershey helped me do it to by listening to me. I did liberty with him, and I practiced putting the bridle on him too. I can't believe how much Hershey and I have learned over the past month, we're bringing him home in two days! We rehearsed what we're going to do when he gets home, I can't wait! After my lesson with him, Hershey's trainer, my mom and me went to the tack store to look for a saddle, bridle, bit and reins, we are going tomorrow to buy them, I can't wait till Hershey comes home!

Different moods

Two days ago I did another training session with Hershey, it was awesome!! I loped on him!! It was so fun, I also practiced my posting, I have to practice more though, because I have to lean forward to get the motion to go with the rocking of the horse, and I can't do that unless I lean forward, which I can't do very well on Hershey, but I'm still working on that. Yesterday when I rode him he wasn't listening very well, it's kind of strange how horses can have a wonderful day, then the next isn't very good, that's what happened with Hershey. I was doing ground work with him and he wasn't listening, he wasn't turning, and he wasn't stopping or backing, but after my trainer got him in trouble, and made him work, he did great, I loped on him and stuff, it was awesome!

How to bail off

Yesterday I rode Hershey, and I had fun! We practiced obstacles, trotting, and backing. I did a lesson with two other people. We practiced the emergency bail off, it hurt! But it was fun! We started by having our horses walk by a tarp, then we would swing our leg over, jump off, and roll away from the horse. We practiced that a lot and my riding instructor said I did it right because I got a bruise on my shoulder. I asked how I did it right, she said it was because I got a bruise and  not a broken bone! And we even rode bare back when we did it, it was so fun!

Much better!

Yesterday I went to work with Hershey again, him and I both did much better then last time! I worked with him and did most of the same stuff, but we did do a few  new things, like when we were in a big arena that was square and I would send Hershey around it with out a lung line, that is called liberty, he would gallop around and around until you asked him to come in, or join up with you. What I would do is back up until he would stop and look at me, then I would turn side ways. That is how wild horses speak to each other in the wild, I learned it in a book about this man named Monty Roberts, it is a very good book, and my trainer also told me how. My riding instructor also said that Hershey knows and reacts to how you are feeling, and if your confident or not. She figured this out because the last time I rode him I was a little nervous, and he did not listen very well, and when she rode him he was also being a brat, because she was a little angry at him, but yesterday when I worked with him I was feeling better and so was my riding instructor, he was awesome! We are still working on figuring out all of his little quirks, and stuff! My riding instructor also told me that he is what she calls a sleeper, he pretends to be tired and sleepy, but he actually isn't! That's why we did liberty with him, to see if he was faking, and he was! After we got him tired out, I got on him and he did a lot better then the day before, he's learning a lot too, I practiced trotting on him with a bit and bridle, my riding instructor said that she thought that it was my best trot she'd ever seen me do! I can't wait until I get to ride him again, which I hope will be soon!

Practice makes perfect

I went to work with Hershey today, it was fun and hard! First I worked with him on the ground and did stuff like 4 corners, lunging, backing, and stuff. Then I got on him and rode him around, he can't stop normally yet, I still have to do a one rein stop with him, ( it's where you bend the reins around until he stops ). We practiced trotting, he needs a LOT more practice! He's getting better though, we also did stuff like, turning corners, backing, and going in a strait line. It's going to be hard training Hershey at times, but it's going to be fun too! Here's a pic of Hershey after his first bath!