70's and Snow

That's right. Yesterday it was in the 70's and Thurday it's supposed to snow! We were going barefoot yesterday, the first time of the year, and I took Bannie for a trail ride. As we rode along the woods, I cued him to trot. Normally when I tell him to trot, he goes into it very stiff and jerky, then tries to take off. This time, he made the transition smooth and quiet, then stayed in a steady trot on a loose rein without trying to speed up. I was surprised. Usually he is pulling on me constantly and I have to keep a tight rein on him, which he hates. He was doing really well, so I decided to try a canter. He went off real smooth and loped along on a loose rein and with his head down. Now, I have NEVER loped him on a loose rein before except this last week in the round pen. But here we were, out  in the middle of the field, and he was just as smooth as you please. Then I decided to try something else, the one rein stop. This is something you have to train into horses, they don't understand it automatically. I took the slack out of the left rein and he stopped!! We did trotting and loping for about an hour on a loose rein. It was amazing! Dad says he thinks Bannie knows all this stuff, he just figured he could get away with acting up because I didn't know what I was doing. Now that I'm figuring it out, he knows the games up.
After we got back, I turned him and Smoke out into the larger pasture across the road. They are having a blast with all the extra room to run around. This Saturday I plan to do the GaWaNi Boy round penning relashanship training with Smoke. I think she'll respond well and it will certainly help our communication.
We're at the auction hall today for take in for consignments. We'll be here through Friday.
I've been working on my diamond quilt and it's half done now. I'll probably lay it aside for the summer and pick it up again next winter.
Lunch break is over! Time to get to work.
Lauren