Ropes and flags and ponies, oh my!

So incredibly cold Saturday. The official high was 45, which is 11 degrees colder than normal. I don't know what it was with the wind chill, but suffice to say it was cold enough that I was bundled up as if I was going to Ottawa. I'll translate this for my readers living anywhere else: 7.2222 C. According to www.weatherunderground.com, it's warmer in Ottawa right now than it was yesterday in middle Georgia. Blimey. However, we're missing out on their drifting snow. No woe there. I'm ready for this cold snap to be over and done with, m'okay?


When I first got there, India was basking in the winter sun. She let me walk right up to her and rub her forehead, not getting up until after I'd been there for a minute or so. All that time I spent with her hanging out in her pasture when she was less than a week old means that she's very comfortable with me. Most horses won't let you walk up to them and stay down. They're prey animals after all. Doesn't mean that they won't, just that they usually don't. Ralph has let me walk up to him on occasion.

We started off with more work in the round pen. No pics. I'm sure you've seen enough. This was followed by work in the arena and this is when I started taking the pics. Btw, in case you're wondering, I average about 100 still photos each time and 9 or 10 vids. POTU is nothing if not well documented.

I love Jenny's philosophy of starting a young horse, which is expose India to a lot. Let it become ho hum. India worked in the arena while Marissa was riding Pony Pie.

Pony Pie and Marissa are standing still in this picture, but that's atypical. Normally Pony Pie is careening around the arena with Marissa providing direction and incentive (a good kick) and Pony Pie bursts into a canter. They resemble a karter in Super Mario Kart. It's exciting and Marissa has a great time.

So, Jenny also used that rope in true, cowgirl fashion to whirl around India's head. India kept an ear cocked to where that rope was, but never freaked out as it landed near her and came snaking back as Jenny coiled it up. Or she'd drop it in a large loop on India's hindquarters and let it rest on her hocks. Finally, she would let India step into it and feel it slide along her foreleg. One of the two vids below shows that, and the other shows a few seconds of a canter.




This video shows up as black on my computer, but click the play button. It's stealth vid.





One day India might be the mount of a rodeo queen. She'll be ready for the flag waving.

Hey, it could happen! But in the interim, it's just one more thing for India to add to her repertoire of normal.

Jenny is always flexing India to the left or right. Occasionally, the flex together. I love when inadvertently I get these great shots of India and Jenny really being being a team. *g*