Last weekend we went to the beach!! I never imagined in a million years that I would be able to take him to the beach this year. It just amazes me that he was so good and we could gallop down the beach! I also did not think I would be able to gallop him for a long time. The stuff that we have accomplished at Terry's is crazy. I am so thankful I found her and that we have stayed there. So many things I will do differently now. Lunging him was pointless, side reigns didn't help him. I'm not saying I will never use them again, they just did not work for him. And it completely amazes me that there is this totally new way of doing things. For so long I would not have believed any of this stuff would work, but I guess it took a personal experience.
Last Friday I went up to brownfield for the weekend and we went on a trail ride. For a place I thought I would hate I like it an awful lot. We went to Conway for dinner and then went to the one bar in Browntown for this music thing. Meghan came up and it was really fun! The next morning we all decided to go to the beach at like 7 in the morning so we went outside, tacked up, and headed out. The sun came out and it was an amazing day! Duncan was perfect. He went in the water, trotted through it, galloped down the beach, and didn't spook at anything. When we first got out there it was scary going through the path to get out but if I gave him the reigns and patted him he calmed down. When we first started walking he wanted to trot and I wasn't letting him, but Terry told me to trot him and let him go and he just trotted until he calmed down. It was good for him to move his feet. We have been doing a lot of trail rides lately. It kind of feels like I'm avoiding ring work, but we are both happy on trails. I like it better because I don't have to push him forward, he just naturally wants to go. And I still work on leg yields, soft feel, and make him listen. So that is what I'm going to do.
