Side reins

One of my finds at this weekend's tack sale was a pair of leather and elastic side reins. I knew they were going to be a little short for Charlie, even though they were horse-sized, but for $5 I figured I could make them work. After warming him up I hooked them on. Here's a video of my first time using them with him, jury rigged with some bailing twine to be nice and loose until he gets used to them. He fought a bit at first until he learned that moving forward and down meant no pressure on his face, then he was really good.

Once I got a nice relaxed trot in both directions with the side reins I took them off, had him trot and canter again each way and then got on. We had one *argument* (I think he thought he was done after the side rein bit) but I didn't feel like dealing with that crap so I pushed him through it and and he came back together quite nicely in the end.

This weekend was a rough one for me for many different reasons so getting on and riding today was therapeutic, exactly what I felt I needed to stay grounded. Other than Dan, being around the horses seems to be the only thing that makes sense in my life right now, so I'm so glad that I at least have that. Otherwise I think I'd lose it.