June Goals and May Goals Review

Oh boy where did the month go!? I'm finding that not having a horse that is lame all the time is leaving a lot more time and money to do other things than worry and stress. It's so nice spending time with the family now that the warmer days are here!

Avalon continues to be amazing. I really didn't do much with her this month, but we still accomplished a lot. She is turned out so much more at the new barn (most days 7am-7pm), and all that turnout is making for a tired, happy pony! She's also put on lots of weight and is so shiny. 

Here's our May review:

1. Walks! I want to take Avalon on lots of walks- trails, road, indoor, outdoor, around the property. Done. We've been walking all over, through puddles, up hills, outdoor, indoor, around the property, down the road. She hasn't said no to anywhere I've asked her to go.

2. Work more on tying. Meh. She really is not great at standing tied, especially in her stall. We've been working on giving to pressure. Although we didn't do great with standing tied see below for our biggest accomplishment to date!

3. Give her a bath. Nope! The weather this past month has been horrible. Rain, rain, and more rain. Bath this month for sure. 

4. Expose her more to clippers and spray. Clippers she's doing pretty good with, and spray she is doing awesome with!! I'm now able to spray her whole body, mane, and tail, without her really moving at all. 

5. Expose her to tarps and other scary objects. The tarp doesn't faze her, and everything else that she's been exposed to on property (including kiddie pool), she's good with. 

6. Take a field trip. Unfortunately barn mates didn't go anywhere this past month. Hopefully something we will accomplish by the end of the summer, or I need a trailer!

7. Expose her to long lines.  We didn't start this either, but it will definitely be something we're going to start this week. 

Now for some big news!

While Avalon is not great at standing tied and tends to dance around....we kind of skipped that and moved right on to cross ties!! She is now very successfully cross tied. She will stand for 40+ minutes, I can brush her, pick all of her feet, walk behind her, spray her, and use clippers for a short amount of time. She barely moves and is excellent about standing and giving to pressure on cross ties. I'm pretty amazed at how easy it was to get her cross tied, as she never was before. Today I even threw a pillow wrap over her back as a makeshift saddle pad. 

She is also so butt high and awkward right now. I think she'll be putting on some height this summer.

Here are our June Goals:

1. Give her a bath.

2. Work with long line attached to her halter and possibly with a surcingle too. 

3. Work more with clippers and give her a bridle path. 

4. Work more in the outdoor ring.

5. Take her for a walk on the trails. 

6. BLOG MORE!