Amyra rides again

Wind finally died to a reasonable level last night, so we saddled Amyra and Sunny again and rode for a while as the thunderheads stacked up across the horizon.  One really rumbly growl of thunder had me thinking maybe we should pull the saddles off again, but one long roll was all she wrote for that particular storm.  Everything stayed south and east - which was too bad for the rain quota, but good for our ride.

Amyra was less glassy this time, but still anxious.   She makes me want to dig out the bungy trailer tie.  I actually untied her while I saddled her, because she does this thing where she kind of eases back until the lead is not quite taut, and then sort of sinks onto her back end.  I start having visions of her sitting down.  She does it being unsaddled, too.  She doesn't act like anything in particular is bothering her once the saddle is on, so....  Will have to study on that particular quirk for a while.

She relaxed much more quickly, and we're figuring out a shared vocabulary.  I've gotten sloppy again poking around on Sunny and slipped back into bad habits, but I can sure tell when I manage to communicate something clearly.

At the very end of our ride I asked her to walk out the open gate and venture into the "yard" for want of a better word.  Holy Hannah!  You'd have thought I was asking her to step onto ground glass with a coating of grease. 

She walks out that gate every day.  But not by herself.  With encouragement she managed about 10 feet before we stopped to look around.  I stepped off, then back on, and with some additional coaxing we made it up to the granary door where my day was watching us from the bench.  He had a treat, which she graciously stre-e-etched her neck out to accept. 

No confidence in her rider yet, that's for sure.  But, although she was anxious and hesitant, at no point was she spin-around-and-run-away feeling.  Just trepeditious.  Which spell check is telling me is not a word, but anyway.

Mom and Sunny had another nice ride.  I despaired often when he was a youngster that he'd ever settle that much!

Ponies are 75' of the way to having a gate at the north end of the pasture!  The gate posts are set - two former telephone poles (shortened).  And there's additional electric run.  All of which happened while I was at work yesterday and therefore did nothing to assist with.  I owe a couple of parental units BIG!