grassy girl

I was the only person at the barn again today, aside from Beth. It was so quiet. I groomed Shyloh and tacked her up and took her to the arena to lunge. She really does much better with the saddle on her back; she trots for two clucks, stops well, and generally seems to pay more attention to me. I barely have to say a word! I worked hard to keep my position correct and I feel I did pretty good!

nom nom nom

I think I need a thesaurus. . .Shyloh is so amazing! I know I have used that word repeatedly to describe her, but she really is! Every day she is making improvements and trusting more. Today, I walked into her paddock and she trotted over to me. I gave her a peppermint and put her halter on. It took a matter of seconds. . .no more of that two hour mess!  But the real surprise came after we got done working. . .I filled up the water trough. I sometimes hang out in the paddock to let Shy know that I am safe and I do not always want her to do something. I decided to walk right up to Shy in the paddock and she did not run away! That was a first, a big first! She even let me scratch her neck! 

yuck. . .grass juice mouth!

I don't know if I can describe how this makes me feel! She always showed curiosity in me, but never let me approach her without grain or a treat if she was loose in the paddock. Today, I was able to walk right up to her. I could see in her eyes and body position that she was not sure if she was doing the right thing by not running off, but she remained still. And when I gave her a scratch, she relaxed and put her head down and let me scratch her more! Now I wished someone was at the barn with me so I could have shared this success.

 Just a few seconds of Shyloh doing her most favorite thing ever. . .eating grass!