Two Steps Forward..

I really am quite awful at updating.

Yesterday was not the best of days.

Most of the time, patience is key. Sometimes an ass needs kicked. And sometimes - you just need to stop. Knowing when to push the limits, when to not, when to wait and when to be angry is important. I knew this but had forgotten. I was reminded because I broke the third.

We started off bad Sunday. I was brushing Mo's foot and when he moved that foot, I got hit in the face. I decided he needed to just hold still and not move his feet. When he did move, I reached up to slap his chest and moved him back. On to tacking up. He kept moving away when I went to put the saddle on him. Mom really got after him for that because he knows not to by now. We worked on that for a while. I was pretty pissed and there was a plastic bag nearby. I waved it at him (progressively) and he didn't like it, but dealt.

Mom held Mojo while I got on and he was comparatively good about that. Repetition helps. Faye lead him around with the lunge line and moved farther and farther down the line away from Mo. I worked on his stop and his go. Then I asked him to bend his head and move towards/away from the walls.

A couple of things contributed to the incident.. The longest we had worked him in one session before was a half hour. I was pulling on his face more and more, with braking and steering. And he just didn't want me up there. Solution - he bucked until I bailed. (He was heading towards the wall and I really thought he would pin me. I pushed his buttons too far.) Faye and John thought it was something outside that had spooked him. I was banged up or I would have just about killed him right then. Mom would have but she didn't see it and only came to the arena after she heard the noise. We walked to the other end of the arena and I got back on.

He will not throw me a second time. If I see a storm coming again, we will head for the middle of the arena and he will learn that it is a bad, bad idea to buck. I was really, really mad. We worked for a while longer until I decided it was okay to quit. I didn't want him to think that bucking works, but I didn't want to push him into a buck again. Then he learned about the wash rack because he was sweaty. It was a hard day for both of us.