I'm envious, too!! To be able to work with your horse, in gross weather, after work or just in the evening - WOW! I have several of Patty's videos and enjoy watching the work she demos in that arena.
Well, the December weather here has been totally weird. Really warm. I've been sick since the week before Halloween - some kind of weird cold that I'm still not over. I determined today that it was time to "buck up", straighten our harness & clean what was necessary. One pair of ponies was pulled out and they were cleaned up, bp's were scissored and tails shortened. Knots were worked out, Cowboy Magic is a wonderful thing (in moderation).
Then Bell (now 23 yrs old) & her 5 yr old daughter, GG were harnessed. GG has grown in the past 14 months (the last time I hooked and drove any ponies right before moving). She is now substantially larger than her dam - the mini harness she used to wear no longer fits her at all. I did have a small pony harness that had been sized for her once before - had to let out several straps. Of course, while we were fitting the harness - GG's "group" - the Jr mares - started running around the pasture they are in (the fencing isn't done for theirs so they are still out on the perimeter/whole 7 acres). GG was a bit unhappy that she wasn't leading her group! But she settled w/o too much jumping around and the lines hooked up. Then I ground drove the pair around until I started coughing pretty hard. Stopped and hung over GG's rump while getting my breath back. WOOF! Took a bit.
Our grand daughters were so excited to be able to go in the wagon - they stayed in the wagon until I told them to hop out while I hitched the girls. They dd ok - GG only tried to move off once. Then the wagon was loaded w/ the girls and a friend of our daughter's family. The girls were full of get up and go, so since they'd already been warmed up, I let them walk a bit then went right into trot. The granddaughter girls thought that was quite cool - so I urged the girls into a canter around the pasture once we'd negotiated the first couple of turns... Then we stopped for them to have a break and Justin (SIL) to get into the wagon.
The girls worked hard! They did very well. We went down the road from our drive way to the main paved road. It's 7/10's of a mile, so the girls' drove about 2 miles in total w/ the first work around the pasture. With the weight in the wagon and them not being used to holding the wagon back with the breeching, I used the brakes to make sure they didn't get pushed/start moving too fast down the hill. Then they had to go up the other side.
When we returned home, we used regular towels to dry off the girls. It's supposed to be in the 70s over the weekend - so these two will both get baths.
Here's the drivers seat photos - FIRST DRIVE from the new property!!!
Will post the video if it ever finishes loading into YouTube.