Today, I rode Diamond in the barn and worked on loping circles and transitions.  This took a while and we achieved a lot.  Also we worked on haunch turns and a few stops.

I guess you could say that the last time I rode Diamond, she was a real drag.... I was able to drag tires around the round pen with her.  I dallied the rope that was connected to the to tires around the pen until she got used to it.  By the end we had the tires about ten feet behind her and were able to pull it from both sides.  Also I swung a rope off of her and threw the loop on the ground in front of her and she didn't even flinch, so she is getting used to all the things we are throwing her direction. 
     Also I took her into the arena and began to work on her circles at the lope with some collection.  She did the clockwise circles great and she really relaxed as she was going around.  When we went to the counterclockwise circles, she needs a bit more work as she wanted to look to the outside of the circle, but by the end of the session, we had made some pretty nice circles.  At the very end, I sat down and asked her to stop and she gave me a nice stop.  At this point we just sat and let her soak it all in for a while before I did a suppling exercise and worked on her crossing over in the front end to work on her haunch turn and spin.  She keeps doing good and we have close to a month before the competion.

The last while, I have been riding diamond out in the desert and she is taking it very well.  She is getting to the point where she doesn't break gait and is beginning to give at the poll and break at the withers as well.  I also have loped some circles until I made a few pretty ones so it is starting to come together.  Our stop is going well as we just have to sit on my pockets and say Whoa for her to come to a descent stop.  I have taught her to  move off my leg and she is able to do a forehand turn both directions.  That is helping her pick up her leads. 
     At this point, she is leary about things that are far and away, but they are not as scary as they used to be.  She is going great and have been working on her to neck rein through the sagebrush.  I have ridden with other riders to let her get used to someone close to her.  Special thanks to all that ride with me and help me progress my Diamond as I continue to polish and shine until competion at the end of June. 
     I also tracked calves on her in the last day and she started to hook on and do really well.  Soon, I plan to start roping off of her as she is not concerned with the stock whip. 

May 9th,  I pulled Diamond out of her pen and she had a sore from the cinch, so instead of leaving her for the day, I worked on our in hand (round one) exercises.  I refined her lead at the trot and had her transitioning from slow walk to fast walk and then to trotting.  She is backing well on a lead as well.  I also had her go over poles and logs in a trail pattern that I have set up behind my barn and she ended the session by being lead over a teeter totter bridge..

May 8th,  I headed out to the desert again with a couple friends of mine.  RuthAnn Ensley and Sheila Combs.  This was great for a couple of reasons.  Diamond is leary of other horses with riders so we all rode together and she was familiarized with being in front of the other horses and also in the back of the pack.  Also RuthAnn took my camera and snapped off a few pics so you can see where we went.  We did the walk, trot, lope for consistency and we took my dog "Banjo, cause he strums to a different beat and it also desensitizes all my horses to dogs" with us and he is always helpful.  I was able to ride up to RuthAnn and have her pet Diamond while she was sittin on her own horse.  We are gaining on the confidence every day and the trust factor is going through the roof.  Toward the end of the ride, I peeled away and rode back by myself as RuthAnn and Sheila continued and made a big loop.  On the way back to the trailer, I pulled my stock whip out and started to swing it around to make the woosh noise that a rope makes and this didn't even phase her.  Since she took it so well I began to crack it lightly and by the time we were back to the trailer, I was able to crack it as loud as I could.  It was water under the bridge.(No pun intended)

When I arrived home I washed her and put her up she is getting used to the bathing as well.

Today May 7th, I decided to take Diamond out to the desert and let her travel freely.  This is always interesting, because the last time they were in this type of environment, they were completely free.  This always makes me wonder what she is going to do when she doesn't see any fences. 
     I took her out of the trailer, and lead her over a bridge that goes over the irrigation canal and she took it all pretty well.  Then we headed up the hill and we did several one rein stops as she was looking around and taking it all in.  There were several cows that had found a hole in the fence and this gave her something to look at and we ignored them until, I knew she wasn't going to spook from them and run off.  I was able to transition Diamond from the walk to the trot and then to the lope.  She kept a consistent gait.  On our way back down the hill I decided to see if she would be useful gathering cattle and she has no fear of that.  By the time we were done,  we had gathered about 50 pair of cattle and she couldn't have done any better.  When we were done, I tied her to the trailer and rode two other client horses out and she is awesome at standing tied.  Another great day!!!!

Diamond has been loaded and unloaded from a trailer several times, and I have turned her around until I decided to take her to a horse show to encounter a lot of action and new sights and smells.  The only thing is that I had to load her into a trailer that where she had to step up a quite a bit higher, and also she had to back out because the trailer had a rear tack.  This being said, I loaded her at home and backed her out and she did this without a hitch the night before.  On saturday morning about 5:30 I caught her from the pen, loaded her into my trailer, and drove a half hour to Caldwell.  Once I arrived, I had to unload her from my trailer and then load her into another trailer with a stallion that I show.  She went in like she had been doing it for years. 

     Once at the show I left her in the trailer for a while and she stood quietly.  Later, when I had some time between classes, I pulled her out and rode her in an outdoor arena with three other riders.  I had one of my good friends give me a few pointers before we saddled her and it will help some of the progess as we go.  Diamond took in all the new smells, sounds and objects in stride.  Later after the show, I resaddled her and went into the indoor arena that is owned by Al Birt where I was able to ride and give her a new experience with music turned up to simulate some of the experiences that we may encounter.  She is thinking people are a good thing now.  She was travelling around in the arena, and she saw Al standing on the outside of the fence and went over on her own to get a rub and a breather by Al.  We are well on our way now.

Confidence and Trust

Crossing the front end over

Tonight I rode Diamond in the arena and asked for some collection at the trot and we managed to trot a consistent small circle with her following her nose.  Also, I asked her to back and she is going to be plenty light when she backs.  Before we went to loping, I asked her to do a haunch turn and cross her front end over.  She is picking that up nicely and does it fairly flawless and she has plenty of foot speed.  I was able to lope some circles and kept loping until we had a few pretty circles. To finish the session, I asked her to transition down and do some more slow circles and eventually walk over a bridge.  It took a bit of time before she stepped on, but once she did, it was water under the bridge(no pun intended) and she walked over it effertless several times.  At the very end of the session, I had her step on the bridge and stand.  At this point, I stepped off and rubbed her down and took her boots off while she just stood there.  I led her over to the tack shed, and unsaddled her and then jumped on her bareback and rode her back to her pen.  It was a very positive session.

A lot has happened since my computer crashed two and a half weeks ago.  I am plannin on being on the ball from here on out.  I have been riding Diamond in the arena and working on consistentency at each gate.  She has learned to stand well when tied and she loads well.  Two days ago, I put protective boots on her and rode her in the arena and asked for a consistent speed.  It took a little while, but by the end of the session, we had it mastered and then I asked her to stop and boy did she hit the skids.  Makes me think we will have a nice stop come July.  I let her sit for about five minutes and then I stepped off of her and rubbed her down for a while.  When I unsaddled her, I curried her all over and then proceeded to comb out her mane and tail, and also trimmed a bridle path.  Also I have started using a western saddle with a back cinch and a breast collar.  Another monumental milestone is she has hooked onto grain and comes to eat it as soon as the grain is dumped into the feeder, so she is more comfortable with human contact.( Thanks to my clients from Washington that were down for a few days recently!  Judi, Penny, and Debbie)