Hotty Update

Okay, so a while back I wrote about Hotty, my friend's OTTB I had been riding. Well I have more bragging to do. He has just been doing AWESOME! He gets better and better every week.

He has become even more of a pleasure pony than when I last wrote. His jog is amazing. It just gets better every ride. I now have him neck reining like a champ. When his ADD isnt acting up and he concentrates on me he moves completely off my seat which makes neck reining a breeze. I have him figure eighting and serpentining all around on a loose rein at the jog. We haven't been doing much canter work lately because I have been focusing on developing his jog and neck reining, but I plan to get back to it soon.

He has also become a wonder trail horse, meaning trail obstacles. I started each obstacle on the ground with some treats and he took to them right away. He works the mailbox like a champ. Once he found out there were treats hidden there he decided he loved it. LOL I also have him walking calmly and willingly over the bridge, our bridge being a flat piece of plywood. He will even back over it and stand on it. We have also practiced knocking a pole down off 2 barrels and walking over it, which he was completely unfazed by. Most recently we began working with picking up a jacket off one standard and moving it to another. I started practice on this on a breezy day taking off my jacket which I flapped all over his neck and head without so much as a flinch. Then put it on the jump, picked it up, moved it, etc, no issue at all! Afterwards I even put it over his face when on the ground and he didnt care. We also began practicing the rope gate on the ground which didnt faze him at all.

I am so proud of the progress he has been making so quickly. I just grow more attached to him by the day. He is so smart, talented, and willing.