Rock Starrrrrrrr!!

JB proves himself to be a rock star, yet again! We got back to western work a week or two ago, after a few weeks off from it. We used the shank bit once again and he proved his limitless talents.

He started off jogging like we just had worked on it yesterday. He kept the perfect pace, perfect headset, and all. Last time we had practice I had started working on riding with one hand. He is fine with the neck reining, keeping the pace and headset while using one hand was what needed work. In our last sessions he had done well, but I had only done short spurts of jogging with the one hand and not holding the reins the proper way to make it easier to go back to 2 hands if necessary. He had done very well with that and we also did a lot of neck reining work at the walk.

Now back to our last session. I decided to try some more one hand work since his jog was so nice. I again started with shorter spurts and not holding the reins properly, in case I had to switch back to two. He did so well I decided to try going longer and hold the reins the way I would in a horse show.

Well once again JB proved himself and had me smiling in disbelief at what appears to be limitless natural ability. He jogged several times around the ring, one handed, loop in the rein, keeping a beautiful jog, and perfect head set. The one or two times he sped up I corrected him and he came right back, responding perfectly.

This is when Helene said, "Show me some turns and circles." Well, there is nothing I like more than a challenge. JB accepted that challenge effortlessly. We did several turns, serpentines, figure eights, and circles. He neck reined like a champ and again held a perfect pace and headset throughout.

We plan to have another western session this week, so I look forward to another rock star moment from the handsomest Standardbred in town, who never ceases to amaze me or put a smile on my face. I look forward to next show season more and more each ride!