April 10, 2011 - Open doors and company

Today started off with some sun, but by the time I got to Rory it had clouded over and was threatening rain.  Two other boarders were out at the same time and I hoped the rain would hold off long enough for me to get something done with Rory.  I won't longe if there's someone riding in the arena already, but if someone chooses to start riding while I'm longeing then I feel that's a clear indication that they don't mind me longeing while they ride.  The first one of us ready elected to ride outside.  I was ready second and took Rory over to the arena.  A couple of raindrops hit me on the way.

The big doors at either end of the arena were partially open today.  Not far enough for a horse to get out, but enough to see things outside - like the blue tarp flapping in the wind.  Rory was very good.  He looked, but didn't spook at anything and he did listen to me for the most part.  The whoa was the weak spot as usual.  We managed a quick longe session, with the person riding outside coming in to join us when the rain started coming down enough to get things wet.  I was quite pleased with how well Rory handled the distractions, but when the second rider came out to the arena I stopped longeing.  We wouldn't have done too much more in any case, and I don't like mixing longeing with riding just because there's so much potential for things to go wrong.  After a few minutes of steering practice I called it quits for the day.  So nothing really new today, just a review of what he knows with some extra distractions.

I did set up my camera to video the session, but Rory was standing right in front of it when I started recording and everything was out of focus.