Day 3

In the past 3 days, Preacher has had 3 rides. He's gotten incredibly better each ride!

Today, he NEVER offered to do his little jiggy dance. He walked 100% calm and laid back, he trotted fairly well and had a reasonable rhythm too. His canter is improving as we work on his collection. He stops very well and just needs to learn to connect "whoa" with stopping.

I also rode him in the rain through our trail course on the property. Nothing phased him - even the 6 inch deep leaves and 6 inch deep running river! He hesitated at the black tarp, but willingly walked over it. It was great to see that he's also a solid trail horse. Here's a video of the leaves and water:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmM8ro5K7Gw

Preacher is definitely a responsive, well-trained horse who just needs some "fine tuning". It seems like most horses these days need just that! Amazing what a little work can do for a horse. Preacher is getting cleaned up a bit already - Samantha put braids in his mane to train a wild patch to stay on the correct side of his neck and a blanket will come for him soon to help him lose some of that winter hair he grew up north.

We'll see how Preacher changes over the next week. We hope he further improves with his walking & trotting, starts picking up on 'whoa', and becomes a slightly smoother ride! In one week, we'll have Gabe ride Preacher again to tell us what feels different from the first ride that first day. If we're really fortunate, Preacher might even get used for an intermediate lesson!