We Did It!

[romewhip]

Woot! Such an exciting weekend- Jake pony had his first real drive Saturday with me in the cart, he needed a little support from a header but did great. Yesterday he didn't need a header, he followed my voice commands beautifully, we drove circles and figure eights successfully, and even backed a step. It's such a thrill to get to this stage with him, he's the first colt I've broke to anything in 20+ years and he's just so rewarding to work with. We'll keep doing a little light arena driving this winter, but he's only 2 1/2 so nothing strenuous.

I still need to build a little arena drag for him to pull, so he'll get some work. We'll save hitting the trails for next year.

(and duh, of course no pictures, I totally forgot about taking any!)

 

[Rhondaalaska]

Great job. You are on your way now.

 

[paintponylvr]

THAT is always so satisfying! Congratulations.

That is great. You know you could ground drive over some of those triails over the winter (do you get snow or just the rain I always read about?) to leg him up and keep him in shape.

 

[romewhip]

Definitely Paula- we'll be doing plenty of ground driving this winter. We get mostly rain, but sometimes snow. We already ground drive up and down the dirt road by the stable, and around the meadow- the path to the meadow isn't wide enough for the cart yet anyway. Plus I do longe line work with him for fitness and transitions, and to help him learn how to use his body since he's still a youngster.