Week 9 Update

I can't believe it has already been 9 weeks since I met Little Louie and I began retraining this guy. Man has he come a long way! When you think about the limited knowledge he had only a few weeks ago it truly shows how smart these animals are.

Louie spent week 9 at home working hard. I feel as though I have hit the wall this week although his happy greeting in the pasture makes me forget how tired I am and off to work we go. This week Louie spent a lot of time walking and trotting. Under saddle, long lining, on the rope, free, walking and trotting everywhere! Walking is one of the most important gaits that we all either take advantage of or overlook. If our horses won't do certain things at the walk, they won't at the trot, and the certainly wont at the canter. After we establish a good walk then comes trotting. Trotting is where we begin to build muscle. Many horses after returning from injuries will trot for months if not years before they pick up a canter again. In my opinion none of us spend enough time teaching our horses to walk and trot properly. My main emphasis this week was to establish a better walk, to give us a better quality of a trot. Some days Louie wants to walk off faster than he should, and trot like he's heading to the next town, so we spent a lot of time bending, and becoming softer in my hands. No pulling just giving to the bit. This takes repetition, repetition, repetition. Louie is a very fast learner and wants to please you. He comes out every day trying harder than the last and this makes my job much easier and more enjoyable!

We also took some time to set up a trail course of our own at home. I was very pleased with how well he flowed from each obstacle completing our homemade course with a lot less errors than I had expected. This week Louie will be traveling to another farm where I board my own horse and spending a few days there before we head to the trail challenge this weekend. I would like to set up another trail course there and see how well he does everything in a new place. He like to get excited off property and doesn't like to stand as nicely as he does at home. We will see what this week brings and try to work through those new place wiggles.

Here is a video I took of our trail course. I had to get creative seeings how I don't always have an extra set of hands around the barn, so enjoy a "ride" on Louie!

With less than 3 weeks to go I'm starting to get excited! We still have things to work on (who doesn't!) but I couldn't be happier with where he's at.

Upward and onward we look to week 10! :)





Love............................... Courtney and Louie