Taking it slow

No ride today. By the time I got up to the barn they were just starting to turn the horses in. I went to get Finn, brought him in (NO HIVES!!! WOOHOO!!), and gave him a quick brushing while he danced around on the cross ties and called out to the other ponies. It was 90+ degrees, and super windy, and Finn had his head in the clouds. I decided to give him a quick lunge in the indoor to see what type of brain I was working with. The indoor at this barn is unlike any he's ever been in. One wall is entirely mirrors (which really confused him), the two long walls have huge windows higher up that open and let in lots of light/air (and also give him so much to look at), and the other short wall has the main door to get to the paddocks. He was actually really good on the lunge. I haven't lunged him in ages and he listened to all my commands. One strange thing was that he swapped leads behind once, and I'm hoping it's just a strength issue and I was keeping my circle too small, rather than a hock/SI/stifle issue thing. By the end of our lunging session he had his nose to the ground, one ear tilted towards me, and was licking and chewing. Rather than push it and ride, I decided to just hang out with him and keep it relaxed, and I'll ride tomorrow night. We went into the wash stall to rinse off the sweat and then walked around the property so that Finn could check everything out and eat some grass. The property is just so BIG and there's so many fields/rings/trails to ride in, once he settles in I know we're going to have a total blast.
    This week I plan on asking BO/trainer how lessons work and hopefully me and Jake's owner, Carole, will be able to take semi-privates together. Carole also mentioned that she'd like to take the boys off property to trails or x-country schooling at least once a month to get them ready for shows. Love having a friend with a trailer!

Wash stall