Stormy Meets a Tire

Last night, Cherokee Storm was introduced to the big tractor tire. Another obstacle to encourage listening, trust and self-confidence. He sniffs it a few times. He is not afraid of it, but does not want to step into it either.

Each time he approaches the tire, he is rewarded with a scratch and praise, backed off and asked again. After a few times of trying, he finally steps in from one direction and follows through quietly. Let's try it from another angle.

Hey, Stormy, that's cheating.. !! Schooling over jumps will come later in your training !

After some work on that side, Stormy does walk through nicely from all directions and angles. By the end, Stormy is able to stand in the tire and move his haunches around.

Here is a photo of Stormy standing on the bridge-- very proud young man. I am not sure what our project will be for tonight, but Stormy is ready for the challenge.

OYY Salvadore ICHO 882-D is a wonderful, handsome, sporty little 12.2 hand curly colt sired by Mead's Chocolate Chip. He is also now in training. He has completed all the obstacles easily and willingly. He LOVES to jump ! Here he is practicing some neck/head bends. Last night he was long lined with blinders for the first time. It's so great when you have not only a very handsome horse.. but a very SMART one too !!

We ended the day working with OYY Pal's Job, a fabulous smooth coated pony out of Frostfire's Tadpole. Tadpole was leased from Sharon Williams - a knowledgable Curly horse breeder who sadly passed a few years back. As the offspring of Tadpole's grow and advacne in their training, I miss the opportunity to let her know what super foals Tadpole has sired. All his foals are easy to train and have such nice attitudes. Job was a driving pony as a 2 year old. He is being ridden now as a 4 year old and working on his collection and smooth transitions in the ring. He's just the right size for an aspiring youngster or smllaer adult. He'll make a great trail horse-- but also shows potential for pony dressage... sensitive and responsive.

Last night ended earlier... the sun was still bright but low in the sky. I captured a photo of some of my day lillies on the way back to the house.

Enjoy your day ~