Boom trots with a rider.....

and that rider be ME!!!!  Woo hoo!  We have spent a couple of sessions at a friends indoor arena - thank you Sharon!!!! - and have worked on our riding.  It is amazing from session 1 to session 2 how well he is walking out.  I laugh because I am bragging about him walking....but 'asking' and 'getting' are two different things, and I 'got' almost every time I asked during session 2, and he was very relaxed and stepped out nicely.  Then we attempted the trot.  Between him figuring it out with me up there and me trying not to worry about him being confused and just riding the ride, we did pretty good.  :-)

This is Thursday evening.....we did some free lunging first.

Then we worked on him following me without holding on to the lead rope. 

Before I get on I do some stirrup flapping....will continue to do that a few times until I KNOW it isn't an issue.  So far it hasn't been. 

Our backing started out real rough, then it got so much better so quick!  This is session one and he was giving me a couple of nice steps back with each little 'pulse' I gave on the reins.

Good boy Boom!  If we were in an ACTHA ride I would get pluses from April for petting my horse.  Hee hee!  (It is a joke we have about being a judge and what kind of judge I would be)

My stirrups don't flip out, so I have to lean down to get my toe in.  I am not as worried about that now as I was the first night.  :-)

Taking a stroll around the arena.....

Coming back......

This cat was hilarious!  Boom really didn't worry much about it while we were riding, altho he did keep an eye on it.  You never know when a small mountain lion will jump you! 

After riding we worked on the ground again.  Backing him from this side is rough - backing him from the other side is smooth as butter. 

Aaaahhhhhh, we are done for Thursday.  After riding Brian and I pooper-scooped the barn and Boom just stood in the center yawning.

SUNDAY AFTERNOON:

Boom got to meet John, Sharon's husband and Bill the Fed Ex guy.  Bill got a quick education on mustangs and was impressed.  They don't think Boom looks like a mustang.  :-)  We chatted several minutes and Boom just stood there like a good boy. 

Walking to get a feel of his mood.  He walked out so nice today...I was very proud of him.

And finally!  We trot!!!!  Woo hooo  hoooooo!!!!!  We worked on this quite a bit.  He would get frustrated at times so we would stop, go back to the walk because I knew he could do that, get his confidence back up, then go to the trot again.  When I watched the video I could see the difference in how he moved when I was riding 'soft' and my hands were not moving, and when they were bouncing.  Soft won!  :-)  I don't only have a lot to do with Boom, I have a lot to work on myself too.

Meet Casper the mini.  Casper is the star of the show when Sharon has her kid camps.  He was saying bye bye to Boom.

When we got home I let Boom out in the yard to munch on grass.  When I let the others out they had to run and play a while.  It was nice seeing Boom socialize.  He is following Wyoming.

Boom is not a herd bound horse - he played and hung out a while, then went his own direction.  He found the rolling spot! 

They all headed to the dog pool and drank like they have never drank before.  I wonder what the difference is other than dog smell and polliwogs with legs.  Yep, the polliwogs are growing up and will be frogs soon.   Here is Tandee and Batman.  At one point there were 4 horses around the pool together. 

Nakita reclaims her pool....that is Wyoming in the background.

It is now August....time is flying by!  We have been invited back to the arena, and we are hoping the outdoor will be dry enough to ride in soon.  It is bigger than inside so it will give me an idea how he will do with his free lunging when he has more room, plus he will have more distractions.  I also want to get on the trails....that will be very soon!  Yay!

Until later....Karen and Tripp who says he can trot, so what is the big deal?