Dew Progress

So Dewey's been here 9 mos and his new thing is if you're scratching him, he'll turn around and offer you his butt, cause he likes getting scratched where he can't reach. He's is exactly like a dog. I let him go out on the rocky river trail without his boots on and his feet got a little shredded cause they were too long and his boots didn't fit anymore. So the trimmer will come on the weekend and hopefully he's going to look like a million bucks again. I'm hoping he might not need boots anymore, his feet are pretty hard. He needs to be trimmed every 6 weeks, I was just trying to see how long we could go, not always a great idea. I started riding in a bareback pad on the trail, just the close trail, cause it's so hot and the saddle is too big and heavy for summer. He's doing really perfectly - he'll do everything I ask. Every new thing is a scary adventure for me, but he doesn't seem to mind anything. He just says, "You wanna do it? Let's do it." Yet he does it fairly lethargically, which is what I like the best. He's getting his right lead canter now, so I'd say he's almost perfect. Got the arena basics, has manners on the trail although he does like to play with the mare we ride with and act like a 5 year old. But he doesn't really spook - if he's nervous, he sort of arches his whole body upwards, like he's trying to zing into space, and moves to the side a little. I am almost ready to start teaching the kids on him, just been cautious since he's 5 and he's tall. Summer and then I'll have had him a year, and then I can relax completely. I almost got him a goat buddy, but I didn't want to spend actual money on a goat, so I'm waiting. Maybe I can find a free horse buddy that the kids can ride, I'd like to have a friend on the trail with me.