Pinta and Mighty Start Ponying

Wonderful day with the horses today! It was not perfect weather, but we were out in the pasture and it wasn't too muddy and there was quite a bit of grass without snow. And there were also plenty of icy patches for Christian and Shiloh to play on.

We started with working on teaching Pinta to tolerate being ponied by Mighty. My goal is to be able to pony Mighty from Pinta ... but Pinta is such a snot to him I know he won't tolerate coming up behind her just yet. We started with her following him. That means I can control her head and mind and she won't be able to kick at him ... lol.

Initially she was tail-swishing and fussy, but she's good about responding to my requests and pretty soon she settled down and worked with the plan. It was a great start. Next week we'll try the other way with Pinta in front and Mighty behind.

Afterwards Ally rode Mighty and I rode Pinta while we did pair figure eights. We did 8 or 9 before Pinta settled and we were good. Then we loaded the kids up ... Christian behind Ally on Mighty ... I am guessing this was Mighty's first time with a double rider, but he did great. His usual "oh, hmmmm, ... OK, no problem."

Merri and Obie hung out on the sidelines and took the photos :)

Either Merri or Christian took this photo of Pinta ... I think it might be one of my favorites! She is clearly interested in what we're doing and politely waiting her turn. I love this girl :)