On Saturday I had to wave off Chloe and Joshua at the airport, so in the afternoon I spent a little time with Arianna to take my mind off them leaving.
It was a hot and muggy afternoon. We stood in the tie ups and I gave her a good brush all over. I can tie her to the railings now and she might fidget a little but as soon as she realises she's tied she stands quietly. She loves to watch all the goings on around the yard and especially people riding their horses in the arena.
After lots of tlc and cuddles I took her to the wash bay and gave her a spray down with the hose... again, a good opportunity to practise being tied and she loves the water. I sprayed her all over and she's certainly not worried about bath time.
On Sunday we had a bit more time to spend together. We started with the usual routine of grooming and cuddles in the tie up's. Then Cynthia loaned me her bareback pad to try on Arianna. This is the first time she's worn any kind of pad.
We practised laying on her back, taking it on and off until she was really settled about it. Then we started to attach the girth, first extremely loose, then gradually a little tighter to the point where it was stable enough for her to work in it.
She was so un-phased by it all! We worked in the round pen with the bareback pad on.
First we played the circle game and practised our quarter yields, then we practised backing up and draw with the yo-yo game. We still need more work on leading. She's super happy to walk behind me and getting better walking with her head next to me, but she's still not confident when I'm in zone 2 or 3....
I couldn't have been prouder of her though today, we played a little a squeeze game between the mounting block and the edge of the round pen for the first time today and then I stood up on the block and played friendly game and leaned over her again to finish.
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