Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Misty & Marley Go to School - Part 3

It's a muddy, melting mess here but school is back in session.


Two eager pupils.
Nah, I think they were just hoping for treats.


Misty was saddled and schooled in the round pen. Marley continues to make progress on improving his posture and being responsive and lighter. Kathleen and Erin have begun riding him. I rode him for a little bit today while Kathleen taught me how to use the mecate reins and walked me through a proper 1 rein stop that includes disengagement of the hindquarters. This is an exercise I will be repeating frequently with Marley in the coming months.

I ordered some mecate reins today. I need to buy slobber straps and new bits next. I'll make use of my English headstalls until I can put together something more fashionable for the western/natural horsemanship style. For the time being, function is more important than fashion



Kathleen schooled Marley on the 1 rein stop.



Misty got a good work out in the round pen.
There were also ground poles and a scary blue tarp in the pen.



I didn't find the bunnies under the wheels of my car this time.
This is a better place to rest - and tastier!

To be continued...

3 comments:

  1. Marley looks good in the schooling photo. I much prefer the Fjords to have their hair natural!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I really enjoy reading about the schooling. It will be interesting to hear about how you solve Marley's problem through western riding, which I am not familiar with.
    Looking forward to hear about how he - and Misty - makes progress. They are supercute both of them!
    And I really would love to hear the story of how you ended up with horses again. And how you met Misty (as you have written some about Marley already)
    Whenever you feel like it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I don't know much about western riding myself, but many of the basics are the same as english. And western riders even have some dressage moves under those big saddles. The Natural Horsemanship methods, the mecate reins, are new to me.

    In coming weeks I hope to begin journaling about a few other special horses in my past & how I left the horse world and returned to it.

    ReplyDelete