I love warm spring days! T-shirt weather for riding is the best! I headed out to the barn as soon as I got off work. I haltered Riyah and suddenly an old neighbor walked up to the gate to say hello. We chatted for five or ten minutes, and all the while I asked Riyah to just stand quietly at the end of the lead rope facing me. She did. She tried to move a little, but I asked again and she complied and stood without moving. Her attention span is growing.

Anyway, when the neighbor left I took her straight out to the trailer and asked her to go right in. No games or backing in and out or playing around this time. I just wanted to see what she would do since we have worked so much on it. I sent her in and Riyah simply stepped into the trailer while I tossed the lead rope over her back. I asked her not to try to turn around and I closed the panel. Wow. Quite a difference from last week. No head tossing. No yanking on the lead. No backing up or surging forward. Hmm. I think we are really making progress!

I drove out to Dog Valley in the gorgeous May sunshine. This is the Utah spring weather that I love! Riyah was calm and quiet while I booted, brushed, and saddled her. (This is typical of her behavior when I take her out alone. It gives me hope that one day she will be relaxed enough to be this way on any ride with any number of horses.) She even stood still (mostly! ;) for me to get on. A great improvement!

On her right front hoof she wore a size 1 Easyboot Glove--the same one she's been wearing for the last couple of months. I added a neoprene sleeve from a cut-down Old Mac gaiter, because the old style gaiter on this boot has been rubbing the hair on her pasterns. Since we pretty much finished off the well-worn gaiter on the other size 1 boot on our last ride, her left front was booted with a size 0.5 Glove with a power strap and the new style gaiter. This was one of Gypsy's old boots. It seemed to fit quite well. A little harder to put on, but a good tap with the mallet and it was well seated. Both boots performed perfectly as I have come to expect regardless of the fact that her hooves don't fit the parameters of the Easyboot size chart.

Although I have to say Riyah was looking for things to spook at today, she was fun and forward, and we had a blast! We trotted mostly, with a few walk breaks, and at least six short canter stretches! WooHoo! She has great gaits. She could get quite strong at the canter, I can tell, but she listened well and was fine today. We rode for an hour and a half, threw in one big steep hill, and trotted back toward the trailer. I let her walk the last half mile asking her for the big walk. She gave it to me, too.

I untacked her, brushed her down, let her graze for a minute and loaded her up. She just walked straight into the trailer like a big girl. Phenomenal progress!

That's my girl!