Day Two

A very good day, nothing so momentous as yesterday, however much was accomplished. The morning started off with groundwork in the round pen. The girls use a long whip to get the horses to 'move their feet'. This includes reversing direction, changing gaits (verbal commands are used as well), and varying speed. After a few minutes the horse considers you the Herd Leader and becomes very respectful-this is a DUH concept of course.

Over in the Arena, Rules of the Road (passing, maintaining safe spacing, maneuvering around other riders) was first up on the agenda. After the ensuing chaos settled somewhat, the poles were brought out and the weaving begun. This is harder than it sounds for some reason, but it took our equestriennes only a couple of passes to trot them with style.

Out on the trail, circling trees, figure eights around trees, and ducking of low hanging tree branches were the order of the day. Maybe we can get some of those branches cut, you know, in our spare time....