Making strides

"If your horse says no, you either asked the wrong question or asked the question wrong."         -Unknown After cleaning yesterday, I was able to hop on my girl for a few minutes before hosing her leg off. She was pretty iffy about the smoke in the distance, but we worked through the questionable parts of the round pen. After that,  I hopped off wondering if she would step away from the mounting block without standing tied first, but she stood still with no problems at all! After I was back on, we walked up to the gate of the round pen and I was able to open in it and walk through while still on her. We watched a friend finish up her lesson, the main goal on our end was to stand still. She is getting so much better at it. The things we are doing seem very minimal, but are important and the baseline for more complicated things nonetheless. I see her make improvement every day and it is not only encouraging, but rewarding. In exactly a month tomorrow, we have made steps together that I thought I wouldn't see for a long time to come.  This evening after feeding and cleaning, I took Hon out without any intention of riding. I wanted to let  her run in the arena and then take a walk around the property and work on her walking with me rather than behind. I took off her lead rope but found myself smiling when she wouldn't walk away. I sat on the mounting block and she followed closely, then gently came over and sniffed me, licked me, and watched my every move.  I love looking in those beautiful mahogany eyes.  They are looking more and more gentle.   This is a very brave-and unusual- encounter. Even when I got up and began walking around the arena, she was behind me the entire time. I had to pick up the whip for her to trot off. It was nice and relaxed and she came into the center much sooner than I expected. She wasn't interested in moving, she was interested in more lovin', and I was going to give it to her.  This is beyond huge for her.  We took a walk around after some more pets and treats. It is good for her to be comfortable outside of the arena, and it was good for her to get better at walking beside me.

She perked up a little bit once we walked around the trailers, and I took advantage of those perky ears and got some great shots. 

Miss Expressive.

Pink lips are my downfall.

I am having so much fun with this little mare and am overwhelmed at how comfortable and confident she makes me feel. I am plagued with different ideas on what I want to do next. I would love to do some groundwork that includes scary things in a controlled atmosphere, for example, a plastic bag under some ground poles. I am so thankful that I have a horse where we can learn together. I am blessed she is a forgiving partner. She is teaching me horsemanship.