Thinking Pink! and other ramblings

OK, I finally got some photos taken. I get to show you the pink yarn I have spun recently. I just have only more ball of roving to get done. Then it's off to Leslie's shop.

Since this is also a blog about my Natural Horsemanship I spent some time with Seven yesterday evening. I have a few things to work on, like saddling. I was just thinking about how he reacted to the saddle and I need to go slower it seems. We did good with playing on the ground but I saddled him before we did that to save time. I shall reverse it this evening and see if it makes a difference. I actually played with obstacles in our playtime and that might have been a bit much as of right now too. We might have to stick with the checklist to give ourselves structure but I don't want to bore him to death either. He is a LBI and learns fast but needs time to digest. We do have the figure 8 pattern real well. He actually looked for the small logs I use to go around. One of the other things, which was a breakthrough, was my yearling decided to come over and watch and he actually let me play friendly game with the stick and string at liberty! That was huge for him! I got to quit before he trotted off too. I also think he was quite pleased with himself.

Just thinking about the saddling, what I noticed was when I lifted the pads, saddle, Seven would turn his head away and act like he wanted to leave. I will try to work on that this evening and approach and retreat till he feels better about it. And also play on the ground first. I may not get the saddle even on and not even get to ride but I want his permission first. I want to let him know that I care about his feelings and I think that will change everything. He loves for me to sit around and pet him and generally just be with him. I got into a zone and had a time frame so I need to "take the time it takes" and wait. I keep forgetting "less is more" with him.