Casper is coming along incredibly well. He has definitely won the number one spot for Easiest Horse To Put Under Saddle! Recently we rode out to the back 40 and played in the ponds (perks of having such an incredibly wet spring, those ponds are only full during and just after heavy rains). He was a little hesitant to walk into the water, but with the dogs going ahead and demonstrating that the ponds were safe Casper decided he could follow suit.
We also have been riding out in the back to give him a chance to acclimate to cattle. The neighbor to the north has a couple cows, and the neighbor to the south has a herd of llamas. Casper has gotten used to both, and it's fun to see how he thinks through things that are concerning.
Some horses were bred to run (my thoroughbreds, most arabians), and some horses are bred to think (Casper the morgan, some of the QH, draft horses). When something is scary, the running-bred horses tend to do better with me distracting them and refocusing them back onto a task like trotting or bending away from the scary thing. The thinking-bred horses usually need a few moments to look at whatever it is, sometimes go up to it and touch it, and once they've determined it's safe they can go back to work. It's always fun to learn which kind of horse I have in training and adapt the techniques to something that works best for that particular horse.
With all the mud, I had to take a photo of Casper's legs post-ride to show how impressive the splash back can be!
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