I haven’t posted in a week, I think. I can’t. remember. But this is because I have been so busy for the past month, working with my 2 horses. Back in May, I found out about a company that helps to motivate riders. It’s called Ride for Success. And their tagline is so fitting – “Empowering equestrians of all levels to believe in their abilities through equestrian goal setting.” I was intrigued. And to be honest , I saw one of their posts on Instagram:
And if you know me, I am a sucker for a challenge where I get a ribbon! I love ribbons. I don’t know why. But I do. So I signed up for the challenge. But unexpectedly, Plezant passed away. I was so devasted. I honestly didn’t know if I would get another horse. But fast-forward to the beginning of June, and I had found not one but TWO horses to bring home. My heart was full again, and I have been beyond busy ever since.
New Horses, New Challenges
Now I do have affiliate links for both of these programs. However, I am not putting them in here. I am sharing this with you because I truly want to help you with your horse like I am getting help with my horses. And I would not feel right sharing this information with you with the goal of making money. Now don’t get me wrong. I love making money. But I want you to come to the decision without feeling like I am giving you a sales pitch. I’m not. But I really have been happy with both of these trainers and how they have helped me, and I thought they might be helpful for you too. That’s why I’m sharing them.
Horse Riding Lessons
Not only did I find this challenge, but I have been working through two programs to really help me with my riding and working with my horses. One I have briefly talked about in the past. It’s an App called Horse Riding Lessons, and I have had so much fun with this App! It isn’t a free App, but to me, it has been so worth the cost. They do have a free trial period of 7 days for you to test it out and see if it is something you will use. This App has been created by Riding Coach Krystal Kelly. And she has soooo much experience to share with us all at becoming better riders. She has a YouTube channel too:
TRT Method
I have also been using the TRT Method. Have you heard of it? It is a bunch of courses that help you connect with your horse, and train a horse using terms that your horse can understand. The trainer, Tristan says: “We all have the ability to show our horses how to navigate their way through our human world.” Isn’t that cool? The TRT also has a 7 day free trial to see if it is right for you. And they also have a YouTube channel:
So I have been applying the things that I am learning from both of these coaches/trainers to working with my own horses. Pumbaa has mainly been just for fun, but my real focus has been on Timon. I have been documenting every training or riding session with both horses throughout the month of June. And honestly, I cannot believe how fast this month has flown by! Crazy fast!
Ride for Success Avid Rider Challenge
And in case you are curious about what I have been doing and how I have been doing it with my horses, I am sharing my month with you. Yep, this is my complete worksheet or journal for working with my horses. Fair warning, it is rather wordy. But I love to share, and here is what has transpired over the first month of me and my work with my two adopted horses, Timon and Pumbaa.
Name: Lisa Goodwin
Challenge: Avid Rider Challenge (32 Sessions)
Start Date: June 1, 2023
Avid Rider Challenge 6/01/2023 – 7/31/2023
Rules for the challenge: The objective of the challenge is to complete 4 rides or equine training sessions every week, for a total of 32 sessions throughout the challenge.
You may choose to do 3 rides one week, and 5 rides the next as long as you complete a total of 32 sessions. Our recommendation is 4 rides per week, but this is not mandatory.
Activities that qualify as a session include riding, lunging, ground driving, ground work, trick training, trailer loading, trail riding, endurance riding, or any other form of active riding or training work that is done with your equine partner(s).
Personal Goals
- Spend more time with my horses
- Increase my riding time
- Gain a steady leg while riding
- Gain confidence in the saddle
- Be able to walk, trot, and canter confidently
- Go on a trail ride
- Go on a ride through my neighborhood
Daily Riding Log
June 1: Tex (will be known as Timon) -Riding and Hero (will be known as Pumbaa) -Training
What a day to start a challenge! Today I met 2 horses. One of which I knew I was meeting, Hero. And the other one, well – I hadn’t intended on meeting him, but I did, and he was awesome! His name on this day is Tex. And Tex is a former lesson horse from a dude ranch up in the mountains who has now been retired due to lameness concerns.

I started with Hero. I got to meet this adorable little creature with the intention of adopting him. And oh my goodness. This little man is beyond adorable. I spent some time with him grooming and getting to know him, and then I got to lead him around a bit. After seeing him in person – it was a done deal. Hero will be coming home to live with me.
And then we move on to Tex. Wow. What can I say about Tex other than wow. I was so impressed with him. I met him and groomed him. He just stood there. No fussing, no nervous glances over his shoulder – just calm and quiet. Then the riding evaluator saddled him up for me because I hadn’t put a western saddle on a horse in a long, long time. And you know, when someone else watches you and evaluates you, you just get super self-conscious? I don’t know if anyone else does, but I do.
A Deep Dive into Working with Two Horses for a Month
So she saddled Tex, and then I did the bridling. Again, she was watching me, so, of course, I was nervous. But again, Tex was a perfect gentleman taking the bit. I was super careful to make sure I didn’t bang the bit into his teeth. But putting a bridle on him was way different than either of my two former horses. This was pretty cool.

And then it was time to ride him. We were in a round pen with incredible ground. Talk about the perfect footing.
He stood patiently while I mounted. Was I getting on the correct side? I hoped so. But Tex just stood there and waited for me to gather my reins. I gave him a little squeeze, and he started moving right away. What?!?!?!
We walked around a bit, and I asked for a stop and then asked him to go again. And again, with no hesitation, he just moved forward. I was not used to this. Then I thought I would see what happened when I asked for a trot. And without hesitation, he moved into a trot. Again, what?!?!?!?!?
No begging, pleading, or kicking. I asked for it, and he did it. Holy cow. This was awesome! Oh my goodness, this horse.
After one ride, I was sure he was the horse for me. So I put a deposit down on the two equines and made my way home. Yay!
June 3: Irish (he would be known as Simba) – Riding Tex (aka Timon) – Riding
After I went home and read more about Tex and started talking to some horsey friends, I was very concerned about Tex’s lameness issues. I started getting concerned that maybe he wasn’t the horse for me. So I asked if I could meet Irish, and they agreed.
This time I had another trusted horse friend with me to video and give me feedback on what she thought.
I got to get Irish out of his stall, and this horse is GORGEOUS. He is a Quarter Horse, like Tex, but he is a palomino with a flaxen mane and tail. And he is a character on the ground. I was very impressed with him and got to saddle and bridle him. He was a perfect gentleman as well. And then I got to ride him. They explained that he is more of an intermediate horse, meaning he requires a more advanced rider. Well, I have been around horses and had horses at my home for the last 20 years – don’t I qualify as an intermediate rider? I’m confident in my abilities. I’ve had a year or so of riding lessons, I felt like I would be able to manage a horse needing a more experienced rider. I was wrong.
Thinking Perfect Horse….Think Again
Everything went fine at the walk. And he has a lovely walk. He likes to move and easily moves forward. I liked it! But at the trot….yeah, this is where everything went terribly wrong. His trot was very bouncy. He stiffened up, and I was sliding all around the saddle. My feet were barely in the stirrups I was trying to keep my balance. So I was asking him to go because I had made contact with his middle, and yet I was pulling back on the reins. He was frustrated with me, and I was frustrated with myself too. I thought I was better than this. But apparently, I wasn’t.

The riding evaluator was really nervous. She was trying to get to me, asking me to bring him back to a walk while hurrying across the arena. I could tell what thoughts were going through her head. I was really embarrassed.
But this riding evaluator was very smart. She had another evaluator bring Tex out and work with him while I was riding Irish. And after my fiasco of a riding evaluation on Irish, I got to ride Tex again.
Old reliable, that is what Tex is.
Go With the Reliable
And even though he has lameness issues or supposed lameness issues, you can’t tell. I mean, he doesn’t bob his head at the trot. He doesn’t appear to be in pain. He seems fine. His legs are not swollen, there is no heat to them, and he doesn’t pull away when you lift one of his other feet. He just doesn’t seem lame at all.
So after riding both horses today, I decided that Tex was right for me. Even though I thought my abilities were more than they are, I have to swallow my pride a bit and take the classification as an advanced beginner rider. That stings a bit. But there’s no place to go but up, right? And the more I ride, the more I will be a better rider. Hopefully.
June 9: Getting ready to bring the horses home
Ok, no riding or contact with the horses today. But tomorrow, I will be bringing my boys home. So today is the last day to get everything ready for them, to bring them home. It feels like today is Christmas Eve. I am so excited and just want everything to go smoothly. I think I have a lot of nervous energy today, anticipating what it will be like to have horses at home again. It’s only been a month since I lost Plezant. So it hasn’t been that long. But I am so excited about the future with my new horses. Or, horse and pony, I should say.
There is so much I can do with Pumbaa, even though I can’t ride him. I am really excited to work with him and see what he can do. And Timon, wow. I am very excited to see what he thinks of his new home. Hopefully, I will get to ride him this weekend. I will probably give him a day to get acquainted with his new home, and the same goes for Pumbaa. I will let them settle in before I start all kinds of fun stuff with them.

So today will be spent making sure the water buckets are full of fresh water, the stalls are bedded deeply with shavings, and I have all of their buckets ready to go and the stalls entirely. Each one needs a fresh coat of paint. And the arena needs a little bit of work too.
Even though I am not working WITH the horses today – it should count. I’m working FOR the horses! LOL And making their new home welcoming and inviting. I sure hope they will be happy here.
Saturday, June 10: Timon – Training, Pumba – Training
It’s finally gotcha day!
Oh my goodness. My stomach is in such a knot – I am so nervous about bringing the horses home. I have all of these what-if scenarios going through my head, making me incredibly nervous about the entire process of bringing these two horses home. But I took a deep breath and shared a little private moment praying and literally giving all of my worries and fear to God. And you know what? Everything went ok, and I let go of the fear and self-doubting.
We got them loaded and home safely! This was because of my horsey friend Lynda and her incredible husband Doug. Thank you, Doug, for your calm demeanor and for agreeing to trailer my boys home. I am forever grateful.

So today was a lot of letting the horses settle in and letting them get comfortable in their new home.
I am sure this was stressful for them both.
So I did a lot of hanging out with them, and even though I wanted to jump in and start working with them, I held off. I felt it best to be in the background as they adjusted to their new lives.
Sunday, June 11: Timon – Training Pumbaa – Training
Today was a carryover from Saturday. Getting the horses settled in, and having some turnout time. Both Timon and Pumbaa had never really met prior to yesterday. So having them live next to each other and get situated with their new ‘roommate’ situation was probably a lot for them to take in.
So I spent time with each of them separately. I haltered Timon and took him out of his pen. We walked around the entire perimeter of the property, or where he will be living, I should say. We walked the pasture area, as well as the riding arena.
I did the same with Pumbaa. And then I decided to take Pumbaa’s halter off, and turn him out free in the arena. I was wondering how hard he would be to catch after he was without his halter – but thankfully, a few treats in hand, and he was easy to catch.
A Deep Dive into Working with Two Horses for a Month
Then I took Timon out again, and we rewalked the pasture area for his turnout time. He was settling in very nicely. He is a quiet horse and, so far, seems very calm. I really like that about him!
I took his halter off so he could wander around and check things out for himself. And, again, just stayed in the background. I cleaned their stalls, refilled water buckets, and pulled weeds that had been growing like crazy with all of the rain we had been getting. It’s funny how not having horses to keep the weeds in check makes such a huge difference.
My pasture area is actually green for the time being. I know that will change with the horses here, thankfully!
So today, I spent a few hours out with the horses, just blending into the background. I don’t know if this helps, but it seems to work so far. I guess we will see in the next few weeks how helpful this has been!
Monday, June 12: Nada Tostada
It has been raining, and raining, and raining. All day, every day. I was off from work as a vacation day, great planning on my part, and I wish I would have been able actually to spend the day outside again working with my boys. But, nope. The weather had other ideas. However, by about 4:00 PM, the weather cleared, and the rain stopped.

And the horses have been penned up all day, almost two days actually, because of all the rain. And holy cow. Their pens are mud pits! I was so frustrated with the weather and not being able to get the boys out together to make sure they would be safe to turn out together that I basically said F%$# it, I’m going ot turn them out, together, and we will see what happens. And you know what? They were fine.
So while they spent the late afternoon grazing, I got to work shoveling out the mud. So I wouldn’t claim today as working with horses day. It was definitely a day of cleaning up after the horses day!
Tuesday, June 13: Timon – Training, Pumba – Training
Well, I had to go back to work today, so I couldn’t work with Timon until the evening. But this is good, because this will get me back on track of what my daily routine will be.
So I raced home after work, and went directly to the horses. My poor husband. I’m like “Hi, I home!” and “Bye! I’m going out to play with ponies!” I have a very patient husband who doesn’t mind sharing me with the horses. He knows how much joy they bring me, and he is ok with me spending endless hours just hanging out with the horses. Thank you, Dale. I love you! #BestHusbandEver
But after racing home from work, today I was gouging to spend some dedicated time with each equine. Today was focused on tying and grooming.

A Deep Dive into Working with Two Horses for a Month
When you bring home a rescue horse, you often don’t know what this horse has been through in the past. And there may be some behavioral things that you need to work through. Thankfully, both of my boys are very trusting. I can see some hesitation in certain areas. But each day has been better than the last.
And I started with Pumbaa. Oh my goodness, this pony. He has so much personality. But there is a little bit of fear that still pops up from time to time. But he wants to please. Such a kind soul in this boy. So I tied him to my hitching post. I am so glad I have this thing. And I don’t tie my horses, rather, I use the tie ring. So if they pull back, they don’t get hurt. The tie-blocker ring is one of the best investments, in my opinion.
So I tied Pumbaa and got to work grooming him. He was a champion and let me brush him, pick out his tiny hooves, and even let me spray fly spray on him without flinching.
However, when I went to put some corona ointment on his freeze brand – there he flinched. It took him a moment, but he settled, and I was able to apply some cream to the brand site.
And then it was Timon’s turn. Again, he tied with no problem, and we had a nice grooming session. Just like Pumbaa, complete with fly spray and some corona ointment on the brand.
Wow. What a great way to end the day. I have not ever had horses this calm and willing to please.
Wednesday, June 14: Timon – Riding
Ok, today was the day I was going to ride Timon. I have not ridden him since we got him home. I wanted to ensure he felt at ease and comfortable with his new home. As well as feel comfortable with me. Before moving forward to the next task, I want my horses to feel secure and comfortable in my care. I know I’m odd. And I have no idea if my method of working with a horse is good or bad. But it works for me, and this is how I do things.
And since Timon has always been ridden western, I pulled out my heavy western saddle. He did dance around a bit when I went to tighten the cinch, but overall he was a good boy. It almost seemed like he was testing me – to see what he could get away with. But everything went smoothly, and it was time to go out to the arena.
A Deep Dive into Working with Two Horses for a Month
Now I have to add in here about Pumbaa. I haven’t penned him up when I am working with Timon. I let him do his thing, and this includes coming out to the arena with us. It seems like he likes it. He seems to. And he is a companion for Timon, so I also bring Pumbaa along. He is just so adorable!

First, we walked around the arena in both directions. I like to see what he is focusing on and how he walks. Meaning, is he moving freely, is he ready to g, or is he draggy? These are things I want to know before I climb into the saddle.
Next, I lunged Timon to feel him out and see how he acted. We worked both directions and then it was time for the bridle. And then, after a quick check of the cinch, it was time to ride Timon!
As expected, he was a perfect gentleman. The bit was a bit thinner than I think he was used to. And personally, for me, I am not a fan of the Western saddle. I don’t feel as comfortable riding Western as I do English. I have no idea why. But Timon went just fine for me, so I will ride him in an English saddle with a full snaffle bridle next time. We will see how that goes. And if all goes well – I think I will have some Western tack for sale!
Thursday, June 15: Timon: Training, Pumbaa: Training
Today was a lot of getting back to basics with both Timon and Pumbaa. We worked on standing tied for Timon. I forget what it’s like to have a new horse. And I let the comfort and familiarity of having the same horse for years and years and thinking I could just do what I used to do on a horse – well, not the same with a new horse. So with Timon, it was a lesson of patience and standing tied.
He did fairly well. And I think I was getting things established that he couldn’t just do what he wanted. He needed to do what I asked of him. And when he did it, he got to rest.
Pumbaa, on the other hand, well, he handled it like a champion. I think this little horse has a lot of training in his past and seems very eager to please. He stood still mostly, unless I moved suddenly. Then he would be more reactive. But when I would slow down, he would manage things just fine.
I just have to remember that these horses are new to me, and they have a history. Going back to the basics is what I really need to focus on with both of them. I am so glad they are geldings!
Friday, June 16th – Saturday, June 24
Unexpected time off for BOTH my horses
Ok, life and the weather have kind of gotten in the way of my horse training. For starters, it has been raining, and raining, AND raining. The rain does not seem to be letting up at all. And unfortunately – my horses’ pens are in very poor shape. So I have been spending a lot of time scoping out literally tons of mud. And then the rain starts again every time I get them partially clean.
So during this time, we did an emergency makeover on the horse pens. Not what I had planned on spending so much time on. But looking back, now that it’s done – well, I am so glad we did it.
A Deep Dive into Working with Two Horses for a Month
One good thing that did happen during this time was my vet came out and did an establishing visit for both of my horses. This is good. Now I have once again established a relationship with my vet, and my horses are good to go. I got a little more insight into Timon’s confirmation and learned he is missing a tooth on the top. And this means his tooth wear pattern is a little off. So he must have his teeth floated every year instead of every other year. It’s good to know this stuff, right? This will help me to be a better horse mom and make sure my horses’ health needs are managed properly. Overall, everything went well, and my horses got to meet their new vet while they are healthy. So hopefully, if I ever need to call her out – they won’t associate her only with bad things.
But while all of this was happening, I had committed to caring for my friend’s 2 horses while she was on vacation out of state. Holy cow this was a lot of work. I went from having 0 horses to 2 horses to 4 horses. And I now know – working full time and caring for 4 horses leaves zero time for riding or training my own horses. So Timon and Pumbaa got a break from any training other than some grooming and application of fly spray. I’m sure they enjoyed it!
Sunday, June 25: Timon: Riding
After a week off basically, I was determined that beginning today, I will be riding my horse. I miss it. And here I have this incredible horse – and I’m not riding him. I felt as if I were missing out on a great opportunity. Also, I think I still have thoughts about Plezant in my subconscious, interfering with my rational brain. And I feel that I need to squeeze in everything I can with Timon – so I don’t waste precious time. I hope I will get over that in time.
But for today, I felt that I had to ride him – when I really should have continued working with him from the ground. But nope. I was bound and determined to ride him, and in English tack. So let’s just stack all kinds of new things on this poor horse right? Well, I’m guessing you already know how this went – it did not go well.
By hurrying and trying to rush things, I frustrated Timone. I made myself frustrated. And I did get to ride, but with many hiccups along the way. We ended everything positively, but it took all afternoon to get there.
Ok, lesson learned. It’s back to establishing a strong foundation from the ground. So back to the basics, I suppose.
Monday, June 26: Timon: Training
Back to the basics, yes, that is were I need to restart – with the basics. At one time, I had done a lot of Clinton Anderson work. I love his way of training horses. And this is where I learned about the trusty rope halter. I will now only use my pretty leather halter for photo ops. Otherwise, all of my horses have worn the rope halter with the knots. And I still have my 15-foot lead ropes, stick, and string. I love these tools. And while I couldn’t remember all of the Clinton Anderson exercises – I used my phone and watched a few videos on YouTube while I was walking around with Timon.
And then I started remembering, “Oh yeah, desensitizing…..oh yeah, getting him to move his feet.” With a little video refresher – these things came back to me. So thankfully – we ended today on a very, VERY positive note!
Tuesday, June 27: Timon: Training
Oh yes, we are back at it this evening! I am almost at the end of the first 30 days of this challenge, and while I feel like I am making progress- it’s not in my riding yet. And that is where I really want to spend my time. But you gotta walk before you can run, right? Right! So establishing a strong relationship from the ground is where I need to be for now.
And today, I am introducing a new method to my horse. It’s called the TRT Method. It’s claimed to be the #1 Online Horse Training Program to reduce tension and is supposed to help horse owners fix all behavioral problems in their horses. I am 100% on board with that, so I am getting started with the basics of this program today.
I know – introducing a new training technique may not be the way to go, but I love having a plan to focus on. And so far, this program has been very easy to learn, and now apply it with my own horse.
This training program is divided into three steps: the groundwork, working with tools, and step 3, the riding! So tonight, we focused on the very basics. And the TRT training method says I need 3 tools:
- Rope Halter (check)
- Really long lead rope (check)
- Stick and string (check)
Great! I have these! Now to get started….
A Deep Dive into Working with Two Horses for a Month
I watched a few of the lessons’ videos in Module One, or the groundwork area. I focus on, of course, the tools as well as leading. And I learned from the leading portion of the groundwork that I have been doing it wrong! Just from 20 minutes or so of focusing on leading my horse, I could establish my safe space or the bubble created around me. This is the area where my horse has to stay out of – this is MY bubble, and this area is non-negotiable. I want my horse to focus on me, not everything going on off in the distance. His job is to focus on the space between us. By doing this I am helping my horse to manage himself, instead of ME managing him.
This was immensely helpful with Timon. Because one issue I have had with him since bringing him home is that when I give him his bucket at feeding time, he would crowd me and try to push me out of the way. But after just one time of the leading exercise, he stayed back away from me when I gave him his bucket. This was pretty cool. We will see if he remembers it at breakfast time.
Wednesday, June 28 Timon: Groundwork Training
Now that we are working almost daily on these lessons, I have altered my training to groundwork training. Because hopefully, in the next few days, I can transfer this training to under saddle. But for today, I again was working from the ground. And even in just a few short days, I noticed a difference in Timon.
In the short amount of time that I have had him, he seems more relaxed and more ok with the fact that I am establishing myself as the Alpha. He is a pretty good follower. But this probably has a lot to do with the fact that he’s a gelding. This is why I love geldings. So amiable! Give a gelding a few treats and lots of praise, and you will have a friend forever. Or, at least, that has been my experience.
But today, I picked up where I left off yesterday. I caught him easily. And then we went back to work in the arena. However, one thing I did differently today was putting Pumbaa in his stall. This way, there was one less distraction, and I wanted to see how Timon would react without his shadow.
We started the session with leading again, establishing my bubble, and having Timon be responsible for where he was – this again helped keep his focus on me.
I didn’t realize how well this worked until a couple came up the road with their horse- pulling a buggy!
A Deep Dive into Working with Two Horses for a Month
But Timon wasn’t paying attention to the strange contraption or horse. He was focused on me and what we were doing.
So we started with the leading again and then moved on to an awareness exercise. And I am not really good at explaining this, but it is basically helping the horse to be aware of the tension within his muscles and helping him learn how to relax.
Again, I am not nearly as good at explaining it as Tristan is. But you can find the exercise in the first set of videos in module 1 of the training. It’s pretty cool!
Also, as a side note – my arena is horrible again.
And as it seems to go for the entire month, the is more rain coming. So I won’t waste my time grooming the arena only for the rain to wash away all of my hard work. Nope, not doing it. But I did decide to get an electric tiller to see if that would make it easier for me to chew up the dirt and help get the compaction out of it. It’s supposed to be here on Saturday – and I cannot WAIT for it to get here!
I have a bad rotator cuff, and all of the hoe-ing and pitchforking to break up the dirt is taking a toll on my shoulder. So there has got to be an easier way to get this dirt chewed up. I am hoping the tiller is the answer. We shall see!
Thursday, June 29 Pumba: Training
While I intended to take the day off from any training, once I got outside, I couldn’t help myself – I had to play with Pumbaa. I wanted to give him a little extra attention and spend some time with him so he knows he is just as important to me as Timon.
And oh my goodness…

This little guy! He truly melts my heart. I think he would melt anyone’s heart. I mean, look at this face!
And one thing that he had a difficult time with when the vet came out to see him was getting his temperature taken. He wasn’t very happy to have his rear end played with. And my vet was not able to check his temperature. It wasn’t a big deal at the time because he wasn’t sick. But what happens if he ever does get sick? He needs to be ok with getting a thermometer placed into his rectum to be able to check his temperature.
So I spent time desensitizing him and working near his hindquarters. He was actually really good. He let me work with his tail, lift it, and run my hands under his tail a bit.
This felt like a good place to end our super quick training. There was no drama, no squeezing of the butt muscles or moving around on his part.
I worked around his back legs a little more and then did some all over body massaging for him before ending the session with a quick coat of fly spray.
He did great with being tied, as well as standing quietly. I don’t think he took a side step at all the entire time.
I can’t believe I have had these two horses for almost a month now. Where has the time gone?
Friday, June 30 Timon: Riding
Alright. I have been spending a lot of focused time with Timon getting him to be respectful and quiet on the ground with me. I have taken a step back with regard to getting Timon settled in and only focused on the groundwork this past week. And he has done very well.
So now it is time to get back into the saddle and move this little man forward.
He has done very well the past week from the ground. But I don’t only want to use him for groundwork. He is a riding horse, after all.
But I have learned it is best to have his shadow (Pumbaa) in his stall so that I can keep Timon’s focus on me.
Since he is new to English riding, I decided that if he does well in the English tack today, we will end the session without me getting in the saddle. I want to make sure he is comfortable in the tack and that he can focus on learning to manage himself in the tack before I add myself to the equation.
So I did just that. I tacked him up at the hitching post and let him stand for a few minutes.

Doesn’t he look cute?
Then we worked on the leading game and moving away from pressure, and ultimately, I lunged him. I wanted him to get used to the saddle a little bit more because the English tack is different than the Western tack he was so used to wearing. He did fantastic! So I really felt that this was the best place to end our training for the day.
15 Rides for the Month
And with that, June is done! I didn’t ride as much as I wanted to. However, I did so much work with both horses. Much more work on a daily basis than I have ever done in the past. Almost every single day, I have been working with a horse. With the exception of the rainy weather hiccup and taking care of my friend’s horses. But overall, I am happy with my progress. I have 31 days left in this challenge to get my 17 rides in. And I am confident I can get it done. I am really excited to see our progress as we work through July.
A Deep Dive into Working with Two Horses for a Month
The one thing I need to work on is better picture taking. I didn’t take a lot of pictures during June. And I am regretting that now as I write all of this out. So my additional goal for this month will be to take a photo every single day that I work with the horses. I really want to do a comparison after the 60 days of work and compare to how my boys looked when I brought them home. I think that will be a wonderful way to ‘see’ if what I am doing is making a difference. Who knows. But time will tell for sure.
And today will be a fun day to continue on my challenge. My friend is trailering her horse over, and we are going to ride together. I am so lucky to have friends like this. You know, riding friends as an adult. It’s always more fun to have someone to ride with, don’t you think?
Happy Riding!
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