Day 98

I have a Fino horse!!

That's right! Harry is Fino! While I was working concessions yesterday, my mom worked with Harry and told me he went Fino. We went out today and I had to see him.

My mom lunged him outside in the round pen while I lunged Brie in the grass next to it. I got on and my mom went in to tack Harry up while I just walked Brie inside and in the outdoor arena. When I came back in, mom was lunging him inside. He isn't fighting lunging any more! Maybe he was just testing me. So my mom and Harry and Brie and I went back outside. My brother and Nina later joined us. My mom went into the round pen and worked on walking and teaching Harry to turn with her weight while Nina and Brie worked on walking calmly around the pen.

Harry was pretty excited but my mom is no nonsense. We all went back in and my brother and I watched as she worked with Harry. She reverted back to holding her hands up higher like how Andre did, because Andre DID break Harry, after all. Bam! He was collected and beautifully Fino. He did have to get into the rhythm a bit, but after a few passes on the board, he was absolutely perfect!!

I rode him and he was fantastic. He seems so much happier working like this. All we can do now is work with him to keep all his legs in sync and not push him or he might burn out. That's perfectly fine, we have all winter. As a treat, we all went out on trail. By the time we got back he wasn't even sweating, he was completely cooled down.

I'm super excited to see where this goes. Next week I'm going to my first IHSA show with the team. Wish me luck! I only get one practice in this week before we leave for Madison!