Horse time FINALLY and a lesson today!!!!

Oh, my gosh!  I don't even remember the last time I was up at the ranch for a lesson with the horses....August?  It had to be because school started August 22nd...where has the time gone?  The horses are ALL doing well.  They all now stand quietly at the wash rack with their lead rope wrapped around...except for Scout.  Scout apparently always tests the lead rope and will walk off and eat weeds...sigh...My trainer worked with Gigondas, Sunni, and Quad today and I noticed how much softer all their eyes were.  Sunni stood quietly at the wash rack and didn't move.  That's a big deal as once he went backward and broke his halter a couple of years ago!  Quad stands quietly, too, instead of pulling back.  And, Gigondas stands there quietly.  That's a LOT of progress!  They all trust Maia, my trainer, who is very patient and calm with them (see pics).  If they make a mistake, she takes them back to where they were and they do it again.  No punishment.  She has worked with Arabs and thoroughbreds, so their shenenigans aren't anything new to her.  I'm pleased with their progress.  Unfortunately, it has rained and rained and rained up in the mountains and everything was covered with frost this morning, so she only walked them and did a slow trot with each of them up in the round pen.  The ranch owner is going to set up a trail obstacle course in the round pen over the next few weeks so that all the horses can get used to tree trunks, tires, and plastic bags, all of which they will encounter out on the trails. I'll be posting pics from today over the next few days as I took a lot of photos today!