first ride

We had a great first ride, the beginning of good times to come! When we arrived, the boys were already saddled and tied patiently waiting for us with Patty nearby. She greeted us, and shared she had to do some shuffling of her plans (consequently no assistant trainer today) it was different as we usually help get the boys ready. The five of us went into the indoor arena, so she could watch and help us get started. I've done little lunging over the years, an area I'm not very comfortable with, therefore she started with Koda & I. He listened well, but briefly got confused when she walked away to help Brad. It wasn't pretty but I caught it in time, and we continued circling. Koda probably thought "I'm going with her, she knows what she's doing". I had myself pretty worked up inside by the time we were done lunging, for no reason, things were going fine.

Patty pointed out that Nemo was doing his choppy movement thing while lunging and needed to reach more. With little correction, Nemo changed his movement. They had started Nemo on a small martingale this past week, to help teach him to keep his head down. Patty was so, so proud that he had figured it out right away! It was as if he said "oh, you want my head down here? well, why didn't you just say so". She hopped on him quick, so we could both see how well he is doing. What a noticible change not only in his movement, but in him. He was a quieter Nemo, and moved so pretty. I did have my camera with me but with both of us handling the horses in the arena at the same time, I had no one to take any video/photos :(

Brad briefly did a walk/trot on a lunge line, and was sent off to work on their own. Patty had picked up on his many years of riding (everyone does) as it really shows. Nemo & Brad are matched up so well, wish I could have watched them more but Koda & I had to get back to work. The whole time we were watching he kept trying to put his bridle on, silly horse. First things first, Patty showed me her way of mounting without a block. Sounds lame, I know. I've had many others show/tell me, always try it, and never succeed. I've always had to find something raised or get a leg-up. For whatever reason, first try and - wait a minute, I'm up?!...then mounted. Sweet. Patty explains and shows things so well. We walked/trotted on the lunge line, she said our legs were great (both Brad & I, and added we are way ahead of the game) however I need to remember to sit back so my torso is behind my hips. Patty was ready to send me off on my own, but I wasn't so we spent more time on the lunge line. Guess I just needed to be more comfortable with Koda before heading off on my own. I'm pretty dissapointed that I wasn't braver. Then again, I've never ridden a young horse. Other than one spook, which earned me praise, Koda was solid and gave me no reason to worry. 3 of her reiner friends showed up for her next appointment, and joined us in the arena. They were very nice, I'm sure we'll be seeing more of them. I eventually went off on my own. We worked all the horses together, it was a nice calm ride with good coversation. Patty had me work on keeping Koda's attention, he was interested in socializing with the new horses.

Other updates: Both boys did great getting their bridle path clipped. She said they didn't even flinch. I found out they are getting daily water baths. They began working outdoors a few weeks back and get sweaty/dirty, they get washed every few days. Makes sense, it's been regularly getting up into the 70's. No wonder the boys are so clean, and silky smooth. Brad told me later he checked on Nemo's cinch sores, two little minor spots. Didn't seem to bother him, he rode awesome. We are scheduled again for next Saturday. Hopefully I'll have my game face on. We really look forward to future rides, shows, comaraderie and learning from Midwest's best kept training secret - Iron Patty. It was a day to remember. I leave you with a photo of a rainbow I took standing in our yard after we got back. It came out of no where, and vibrantly bounced off the closest unplowed field while I ran into the house to grab the camera and capture what remained. It receded back into the horizon, but was still a sight. Thanks for sharing this special journey with me.