I couldn't resist!

First, a little background. I've been raising my filly since she was 11 months old. Everything she knows, good and bad, came from me. She is 4 years old (5 in may of 2008) and was backed briefly 4 times for about 10 minutes at a time just this past summer.

So what couldn't I resist? I had to post today's accomplishment - we rode for a WHOLE HOUR !!!! I had a helper. His name was Tony (just met him out at the barn today). He and my friend, Renee, were out in the paddock just riding around. The paddock is about the size of a large outdoor arena. Anyway, Frankie (my filly) and I were standing at the rails, she eating grass and me watching Renee ride a horse she was considering buying. They were having such fun and out of the blue Tony asks me if I'd like to come in and ride my girl. I said no....wasn't planning on riding her as it's been months and I wanted to mainly just work on reintroducing the saddle and getting her comfortable with it again. He was so nice and so insistent that I took her in anyway. He held her lead rope, held the off side stirrup and up I go! My Frankie was SOOOOOOO GOOD with me on her back! We walked all over that paddock. We did back ups, turns on the hindquarters, riding the rails - it was like she had been under saddle for ages! Tony suggested I try a trot, but you know, I was so excited about just being on her and her doing so well, that my legs were shaking - LITERALLY! So I declined. Besides, it being our first ride in so long, I didn't want her to go into an excitable stage, not just yet. I wanted to BE SURE she understood all my basic cues before adding a new one, especially since we are training bitless. I'm currently just using her rope halter, hooking the reins (scissor snaps) onto the cheek part and lower part of the nosepiece so they stay in place and don't slide all over. Makes for a nice, comfy hackamore type of setup. I'm using big exaggerated rein and leg cues and SHE'S GETTING IT! TOTALLY!

And she was taking care of me too. How do I know that? The horse that Tony was riding decided to sniff her butt and she decided she DID NOT LIKE THAT! So...instead of giving him a hard kick with both hinds to the chest, she barely picked both hind feet up enough to threaten and that combined with the squeal did the trick. She made sure I didn't go anywhere! It felt no worse than a mild glitch in stride. Normally she gives a kick to nosey males that tend to take out big chunks of hair and skin! lol

And, as if that wasn't enough, Tony and Renee decide to go outside of the paddock and onto the trails. I was hesitant, but figured there's no time like the present (especially since their horses were so nice and calm) to try her outside the box. We actually rode about a tenth of a mile down the trail and back and I had no problems with her....NONE! WHAT A GOOD GIRL! I'm on cloud 9 and all is right with the world! lol

Lesson #1

Don't rush out and buy everything you think you will need in anticipation of owning a horse! One size just DOES NOT fit all and it's hard on the pocketbook too. :-)

So, first things first.

Most likely you do have a good idea of the size of horse you hope to own, so it's okay to spring for a halter that will work for that size. You may as well go with a neutral color unless you just ADORE fuscia and have to have it! lol Purchase a nylon halter as it holds up well and won't break the bank. Get a 6-8 foot lead rope (to match? Up to you). You can always change up to expensive leather halter with silver with gold trimmed buckles and leather/silver/gold lead rope to match at a later date. Right away, you just need a workable halter. Buy a panic snap (self-explanatory once you work with it or ask at the tack shop) and use it! It could save your horse's life or your neck!

Now that you have your halter, you can handle your horse.
That's about all you need to take care of the basics for moving your horse from point A to point B, over to point C, down to point D and back again. End of Lesson #1.