Mia's halo slipped, but only slightly

[Sheryl]

She has been good but I brought her home from the winter barn and it has taken her a bit to settle. She has done alot of tearing around and has in fact lost a bit of weight since being home. The 3 are getting along well in the pasture but i feel like she has an eating disorder..haha... she is very food protective so I am managing that carefully... i have never seen a horse that won't go to pasture as she feels the need to guard her dragons lair filled with golden hay. Eventually, she followed the lead of the boys though and is now enjoying pasture without freaking out if I lock them out of their shelters/gravel runs.

I took her to the obstacle class again with someone else riding Buster. It was totally different this time, more outside obstacles like complex log step overs, bridges, going through brush so it was all too easy for Buster and mostly too easy for Mia - except the water. The water crossing was about knee deep, steep sides and you couldn't see the bottom and it had fake ducks floating in it. I think it was the depth/not seeing the bottom that made Mia pretty awful about it. Got her through it 3 times, but I think my back needs chiro care after that last HUGE leap into the air and advance water landing. Everybody within about 20 feet took a muddy shower...haha. since we always want to end on a good note, i took her through the rest of the course a final/quiet time and then worked her through a very shallow puddle of water - walked and trotted through it no stress. We still have work to do on water crossings though....

[DorothyB]

Brings back memories of Shiloh's "deer jumps" over tiny bits if water. I'm so, so thankful that I sent him off for training and can now go through water safely

You have a lot more experience, etc than I do, so I'm sure you can work Mia through this.

[Idaho Linda]

Hey, where is my response? I personally like a horse for the back country that isn't blindly obedient. I want both of us paying attention to the environment. After all, the senses of the horse are more well-developed than mine. Mia is coming along great under your guidance. It is all going to work out perfectly with a little more time.

[Marci]

I agree with Linda. Your a new team and it takes time to build that trust.

[Sheryl]

Oh I can ride out the huge leaps but they don't feel great on the back... and more importantly it doesn't keep her in the compliant state of mind I want her to have. She has come a long way though - first time I rode her it was a battle to go through a tiny bit of mud. Now she walks/trots through mud and most puddles with no problem.

Jaxon the pony thought I feel is hopeless with water. I have been working on it for a couple of years and everytime I think we make progress... it is back to square one. Maybe he is a cat in pony's clothing.