My plan today was to work on Cisco staying with me while I tried to loose him.  But today, we did it online instead of at liberty.  I used the 14' rope.  I have purchased a slightly used 45' rope.  I plan to get it out of the mailing box and try to start loving it.  sigh.... I saddled up Cisco in the barn.  He was loose, eating hay.  I loaded up the saddle.  Then I wondered if he would back out of the barn with me standing behind him…

We might have done Level 4 stuff today.  What we did do is have fun.  Fun in the round pen.  On the ground, we are trying to get me to change directions, run fast and have Cisco run to catch up with me.  We are working on it.  He stays locked with me going the same direction at all speeds.  It is certainly good exercise for me.  We rest with me sitting on a barrel pretending that this is part of the training time instead of letting me breathe again…

I'm ushering today at Kauffmam Center for the Performing Arts which pauses the horse journey. But I had thoughts. Yesterday, I thought about the many many steps we take to keep ourselves safe with horses. Since I'm a polished veteran now and know everything, I've been neglecting some of these steps. The thought of making an audition for the Level 4 tasks has brought me back down to reality. We can not skip safety steps in a test, so let me just put full safety back into my warm-up. When…

Cisco is anchored to me. He runs along side of me. He is bonded to me. I thought today, Trailer loading at Liberty! Turns out, he is not anchored to me in the yard when it comes to trailer loading. Yes. He ran about 60 feet away from me. I resorted to the halter and sent him into the trailer. No! I had moved the trailer and he had to step up higher to get in. So we had a trailer loading session. He didn't explode when he got into…

Again I used the 22' rope around his neck. We played the circling game with the concept of not pulling on the rope. These are simple things, but not easy. We have not yet accomplished circling at a trot with the rope loose in my hands. Until he can do this on the 22' rope, perhaps doing it on the 45' rope will either be easier or more difficult. Ha! This is what horsemanship is all about. Guessing, trying, breaking it down into pieces, trying, etc.. Next is trailer loading.…

More trailer today. This time we loaded with the 22' rope around his neck. He loaded at a trot the first couple of times! Whoowee! Same as before, he exploded a couple times when he first loaded. I managed to drop and grab the rope when he exploded out of the trailer. Then he ate a bit of grain, turned around and stayed quiet. I had dropped the rope. I had to figure out how to get the rope in my hands to get him to come out. I didn't…