Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

Wow! Sorry it's been so long since I've updated this! I've been so busy!!
So where do I start! Well, Solo was lame for about two weeks, but he's improving now! We still don't know what it was, but a little bute goes a long way! It was his right hind leg. We think he pulled a muscle. Anyways! He's able to be played with again! And I've been riding him lightly, just trying to build him back up again. He seems fine, but I don't want to take any risks! As far as our relationship goes, it's better than its ever been! I think that two weeks off was needed, because it gave me a chance to just spend some undemanding time with him! He expression has totally changed..he looks like himself again. For a while, he wasn't looking too happy, which I think was a mixture of pain, and boredom! While not playing with him, its given me a chance to think of what we need to work on, instead of playing with the same things. I've realized that we need to work more on our liberty patterns, and move onto our level 3 online patterns for gosh sakes!! (:
Our rides have been great! He is so soft and responsive and I always feel safe on him! I trust him with my life..literally! He's been using his topline so much more these days, and the muscle growth shows it! He really looks fabulous! Our finesse has really taken off. He understands now that when I pick up collection, he needs to follow that feel, not hollow out his back and overbend. Silly boy!

Where do I start with Cavallo?! Well, he really is my "wild child"! He's such a goof ball, and his LBE side is peeking through more and more everyday! about a week ago my mom and I took Cavallo and Mandala (that's my moms "new" horse..we got them on the same day!) out to The Horse First Farm for a play night! They just got a new playground in, and there is a pond in it. Its about knee deep on the horse, and probably 15-20 feet long! How fun!!! Well, the first time I asked him to touch it, he sniffed it, and then decided he didn't want anymore of it. So I said okay, let's go play with some other toys! After we made our way around the playgroud, we approached the pond again. This time, he walked up to it, sniffed it, dunked his nose in it and swished it around. Then he pawed it a little, and said "okay! I'm done!" So we went and played with some jumping over the logs, and with the carwash. Then we came back, and this time he walked right up to it, sniffed it, pawed it, and then with a little encouragement from zone 5, he walked right through! What a smart boy! Well later that night, my mom was asking Mandala to go through, and Cavallo and I came over and he wanted to walk through it again! He started out by pawing the "shoreline" and emptying about half the pond! :D He splashed Mandala in the process! It was so funny! I asked him to go a little further into the pond! Well now he was sticking about half of his head into the pond, and then figured out that water doesn't work as well as oxygen! After he figure that out, he started blowing bubbles out of his nose! That was the funniest thing I've ever seen! He then finished off his comedy act by laying down in the pond! Then he got up, walked out, and looked at me like "Okay, I've had my fun!" I couldn't stop laughing at that goofy boy! I took him into the sand arena to roll afterwards, which he thoroughly enjoyed!
At home, we've been working on getting our draw better, because he likes to lean on the rope..not good! I've found its better when he's already moving, compared to when he's standing still and I ask him to come to me! We're also working on spirals, and getting him to arc more on a circle, instead of just leaning on the rope. We're also working on lots of friendly game in zone 3, with flank ropes, long lines, and lots of commotion in that area! Lastly, we're working on doing lots of things from the mounting block, not just mounting!

Savvy On! :)