We have only one month to go!! It's crunch time!!

Danny is putting on weight and muscle almost daily it seems. His hindquarters are filling out, his neck is getting stronger and there is much more definition to his leg muscles. It's awesome to see how he has changed.

Mental and emotional changes have been drastic too! He is still the super sweet and laid back gelding I hauled home from Mississippi, but he knows more cues and responds to feather light touches, sometimes taking me off guard and reminding me to be a soft as I possibly can.

We spend the great majority of each session loping or galloping. We're working on speed control and regulating his strides so I have the best chance of guiding him through beautiful circles and lead changes. He has not ever once bucked with me in the saddle. "Willing" should be Danny's middle name.

We use the bridge to practice subtle control drills. I ask him to keep his front feet on the bridge and pivot his hind feet to the left or right, sometimes all the way around the bridge.

Isn't Danny a sweet looking guy? Here he's patiently waiting while I adjust a couple poles for another exercise. One time I guess I left him alone for too long and he walked over to the bridge, and stood on top of it, perfectly straight and square! Then he looked at me like, "We do it like this right?"

Laying down is easy for Danny. He always seems so ready to learn.

Hugs for Danny!

I made sure to remove the stirrups from my saddle before asking him to lay flat. That way, he isn't the least bit uncomfortable and only gets lots of loving for doing what I asked.

My friend Betty, brought over her Mustang to show Danny. They both look pretty cool, don't you think?

Now, that we're on the final legs of our training, Danny and I are working twice a day. We often take a ride up the dirt road to get a break from the arena, but we still practice hindquarter control, lead departures and softening to the bridle.

Yesterday and today, I clipped Danny's face, ears and bridle path with the clippers. As I was running the clippers over his ears, while his head was down, the lead rope on the ground and Danny calmly standing, I thought about the many horses that are twitched or forced with pain to accept the clippers. Every single time I work with Danny, I am teaching him what to expect from me. Will I hurt him? Will I give him consistent leadership? Does he need to worry about getting the wrong answer and being punished unfairly? My goal has been to set Danny up for success in every way I can. I try to give him the right answers before I even ask the question, so that when I give him a little quiz, like standing still while the clippers buzz around his ears, he gets a resounding A+!