We finally have a male protege for Les! I hope he comes back for more lessons Wyatt is 5 years old. Les helped him learn Parelli’s 7 Games with TAGteach. We use the 7 Games to give our students a daily warm up for getting in synch. My favorite part of the lesson was when Les was teaching Wyatt to do the Porcupine game for a turn on the hindquarters. First Les gave Wyatt the tagger and said, “Tag me when you see my legs cross.” Wyatt did an awesome job! It’s really cool to see how precise tiny kids can be when they are given a tagger. They really focus! Then Les cued Thistle and had Wyatt tag when Thistle’s forelegs crossed. Finally Les had Wyatt cue Thistle and Les tagged when Thistle’s forelegs crossed! The best part was that Thistle, who is usually somewhat lazy about the 7 Games, actually pivoted for Wyatt. This is amazing because Thistle is still learning the cues her self. What’s more, yielding the forehand is a respect game for a horse, so it is amazing that Thistle would listen to Wyatt, who is such a little guy. Thistle was a very good girl, Les was a very good teacher, and Wyatt was a very bright and persistent student.

I put a Western saddle on Cinnamon for the first time. The back cinch was no big deal at all! What an awesome boy. We went out and played on the trail course and he did some really cool stuff, including sidepassing poles, YoYo-ing back over poles from a distance, and backing through squeezes from a distance. He even put his front hooves up on the middle rung of the fence and stood on it. What a creative guy!

At PonyPros, we try to give our colts a very good first experience with riding. Here is an example of a 3 year old ranch raised colt’s first time being ridden. We start our colts bareback because they are less likely to get scared and buck. The first ride is just about getting moving and there is very little focus on cues or aids. We do use some obstacles to give the colts somewhere to go, but we use them to create a migratory flow, rather than as events. Cinnamon is learning very quickly and is an especially good boy.