While I worked with Lily on Sunday, Smoke hung over the side of the round pen to see if looking cute and alert would get him a treat.
It did.
While I worked with Lily on Sunday, Smoke hung over the side of the round pen to see if looking cute and alert would get him a treat.
It did.
Last week, I decided it was time to start working with Lily to get her legged up a bit, before I put her back to work under saddle. We’ve had a round pen to the east of the house for years, but I have rarely used it except for temporarily confining a horse where I could see it from the house. It seems almost odd to be using it for its traditional purpose.
I don’t want her to run around like an idiot in the round pen (and possibly reinjure herself) so I am using clicker training to reward her for trotting forward in a sensible manner. Since she likes to trot with her nose four inches off the ground, I click her (and give her a treat) when she carries her head with her poll slightly above her withers, as in this photo I took yesterday. (For the non-horsey set, the poll is the spot between the ears, and forward means energetic without rushing.) Eventually, I will only reward her when she lifts her forehand a bit more, and takes more weight on her hindquarters, but right now my reward criteria are sensible, forward, and poll above the withers.
She doesn’t seem at all upset that her nine month long convalescence is over.
I took this photo in Manitou Springs yesterday. By my lights, this buck is far too tame for its own good, but it did allow me to get close enough for a good photo.
Jack and I took a walk to the west of our place yesterday. Jack found this stone bowl filled with ice and water in a boulder near the road. It looks too regular to be natural, but what else could it be?
Last Sunday, while my mother was at Mass, I took another walk along Cottonwood Creek. The creek bed is to the right of the path in this photo.
Yesterday was hectic, with quite a lot of tasks and errands. Nevertheless, I found some time to walk in Black Forest Regional Park with a friend. There were a few icy spots, but most of the trail was in good shape. The patches of snow made the Ponderosa forest seem quite bright and cheerful.
I took this photo yesterday of Pikes Peak from near my mother’s place yesterday. The mountain is snowier right now than it has been in several years. And yes, the sky really is that blue.