Day 16

Spent some time with Shonee at the round pen. No pressure, just time. It was good.

Day 15

Took the day off today and enjoyed watching it finally rain.

Day 14

Back in the round pen, we began with the drive lines again. Shonee has a beautiful & elevated trot. Then I moved him around some under saddle. We worked on flexion and I did some more jumping up & down beside him. I was thinking about taling the first ride. I stepped up in th saddle on each side while putting my knee across his rump. This went very well. I mounted Shonee from the left side, swung up onto the saddle, paused and dismounted- uneventfully. I casually walked around him to repeat this on the off-side. I stepped up, sat down in the saddle planning to dismount again. But, Shonee let me know he wasn't quite ready.

Day 13

Shonee is leading up and accepting the bit much better. I took him into the big arena for the first time today. We worked on sending exercises, backing, and driving the forehand. He let me rub his front legs all the way down. From the observation deck I was able to put a foot over his back and allow him to see me above him.

Day 12

Shonee still doesn't like me behind him. Today I saddled and bridled him. He stands great during saddling without being tied. I put drive lines on him and he tried to keep me in one eye or the other. It was fun to watch him turn his head back and forth as I moved from side to side. I got him to give me a few steps backwards- progress. I tried standing up in the stirrups. It took several tries for him to accept that. I ended the session by standing in the stirrup and lying across him on both sides.

Day 11

Today Shonee wore a saddle, bridle, saddle bags, and bumpers- still no buck. The only thing he seems to be afraid of is me. I'm still working on gaining his trust. As a long 4 year old, he's very confident. On the one hand, this is a very good thing. He easily accepts objects and has no problem with everything I've introduced. On the other hand, a horse with that much confidence in himself is not really looking for a leader. He could be categorized as a strong Beta- challenging me every day, asking me if I'm still going to be the leader that day.

Day 10

It may have been a mistake to give Shonee a day off. I finally got a saddle on him. He stood fine after getting it on. The cinch was no problem and no buck! I then introduced him to a bit and let him loose in the round pen to carry them around for a while.