Hunter -- 10/5/08

WVFarmgirl here. I'm doing Hunter's post for yesterday since I was there to witness firsthand the power of the pony, who is quickly becoming a non-pony because he's growing SO DARNED FAST!!! Remember the pic of his butt about 5" above his withers? Not anymore! His front end has pretty much caught up with the butt and he's also filled out. Now he looks more like a quarterhorse than a quarter of a horse. But he still has that babyish charm that makes you just want to fawn all over him and shower him in kisses. Which is pretty much what happened yesterday.



Anastasia's niece brought over a couple of friends and all of them are in the sixth grade. Need I say more? There was much fussing over Hunter, grooming, smooching, and general girlish silliness. Hunter loved every second of it.



All pictures were taken on Anne's camera and I'm waiting on her to send the rest my way. So for now I just have this one:





Can we say absolutely adorable???? Hunter did very well and is starting to associate leg squeezing with moving forward. I also had the girls work on WHOA while rotating back on their butt and squeezing gently on the reins. Hunter is still being ridden with a bitless bridle for now, but he was still a very good boy and an incredibly quick learner. Initially there was some hesitation when one of the girls would try to turn him, but once I showed them how to open that rein and pull out to the side instead of pulling back, he picked up on it a lot quicker. Eventually they had him turning away from me as I was leading and doing circles with me on the outside. As usual, Hunter took everything in stride and didn't get upset about anything that was done to him. Even when one of the girls got a leg up and floundered around a bit trying to right herself on him, he stood his ground with slack in the lead rope like he knew exactly what was going on and wasn't going to let him bother him.

I think he's ready to be turned loose with saddle and girl, but only in a small area and at a walk. At this point I think keeping him on the lead rope is old hat for him and he's looking to move on to something more challenging. What a good boy!!!