Team Tucker is all tuckered out

Team Tucker is all tuckered out.

Long day started about 9am and got all done about 1pm.

I tried on the breast collar for Tucker. I also added his leather strap for his saddle to replace the nylon strap. Groomed and saddled and mounting went pretty smooth.

Headed over to my friend's house and she met me and we went the long way around the block to get to her place.

We tried to go straight on a piece of conveyor belt.

We went through the ponds and over the bridge and around the tires and something totally new: The pool noodle gateway.

We successfully negotiated the pool noodle gateway in both directions.

I thought he was getting kind of bunched up at the big pond and I was worried he was going to jump. He didn't.

We did really badly at the multiple logs in a row. Honestly, I just don't think he has done that before and he gets to rushing and it turns into a mess. He got totally tripped up and it was a little scary.

I am going to work at home by spacing some logs way apart and we can do one at a time.

We played with the big ball. Brownie the Wonderhorse did it first and then Tucker pushed it. Getting him to kick it was a bigger challenge.

We did a bit of jogging.

We went up to the ice chest where a bell was hanging that I was supposed to ring. Tucker reached up and dinged it himself!

I got a few tips and tricks to work with.

Coming home was a bit of a challenge. He wanted to walk fast and we were on the back trail home.

He stopped to look back at where Brownie might be and then he did a jiggy sideways little jump thing. I stayed cool and calm even though it was not expected. I don't know if a fly bit him or if he was upset about leaving his friend.

He started to jog but I slowed him down. We got on the sand road and he wanted to trot but I slowed him down.

We got in the gate and he started trotting to the back and I was like "hold it. No, no, no." Got him slowed down :)

Closing the gate and dismount went pretty good.

Beautiful day with less smoke and less heat! I enjoyed this but my butt is sore. Yes, there were some challenges but I am happy overall.

I saw a saddle at the saddle shop I want but it is a fair amount of money so I told the guy I would think about it. The cantle is the right height. It has a new wade tree still under warranty. Padded seat. Turned stirrup leathers that are soft as butter. He'll let me try it out if I don't like it I can bring it back. If I wasn't getting a new roof, I would not be hesitating to try that sucker.