Kona came home in October. Sarah is riding Kona and enjoying her, and Kona likes Sarah because she doesn't do dressage! Kona likes being a jumping and trail horse. Kona also likes having a roll in the round pen after her exercise and getting coated with sand and mud!
I haven't posted anything since September because I haven't taken any new pictures of Paloma. We've had 2 clinics with Ellen, and Paloma and I have made some big improvements. She's more balanced and tolerant of the reins, and has learned how to sit down and push. It's hard for her, as she's always gone around flinging her fancy front feet, and she gets tired and poops out. But she's getting the hang of it. The reverse shoulder in at the walk, and now a bit at the trot, are helping her a lot to strengthen her hind legs and get the coordination of stepping underneath. We went through a phase of spooking at everything outside the arena. It was not fun, and I was getting upset, which made it worse. But Susan taught me to whistle and laugh at her when she spooks and shies (easier said than done, particularly when she stands on her hind legs!) and that seems to have done the trick. If I stay calm and cool, and don't pick up on her little dramas, then she stops thinking about those things. Since Susan helped us with that, we've had good rides, even at night in a foggy arena all by ourselves.
