Stella's new wardrobe

While Lance is mending, Stella is modeling!

Since she arrived, Stella's halter has been the hand-me-down from my first Morgan as that was the only web halter we had that fit her. She has pulled back a few times while tied, and the last time the ring that the lead rope attaches to gave way. I looked into replacement rings but ultimately decided that it would be better to replace the whole thing since it was nearly 30 years old. In the meantime, I used this 'giant' blue one with black trim for tying,

and this white/red/blue rope halter that Lance won in an online mustang show for her groundwork. (It's too small for Lance.)

I had gotten a sale email from Chicks Discount Saddlery advertising halters, so I checked out what they had. Lisa prefers a rope halter with integrated lead rope (no snap) for groundwork; so I looked at those, as well as web halters.

Even though bright blue is striking on Stella, I couldn't resist this black one with bright flowers when I saw it. Unfortunately, it's a bit too big as well; I should have ordered the "small horse" size instead of the "medium horse" for her fine head. But it would probably cost twice as much in shipping to exchange it than the halter's price, so I'm keeping it.

I also got a black rope halter; it is made of nice thick, soft rope and has a 10' integrated lead, perfect for our ground work.

And our ground work is going very well! At our second lesson Lisa told me to saddle her up for our homework sessions. Although Stella was still good, the saddle created some tension, which Lisa noticed at our lesson last week. After some initial work, we decided to take the saddle off for the rest of the lesson. She still seemed more 'stuck' than the week before, but Lisa ended with some work from the fence that was a big improvement over what I had been able to do. After seeing Lisa demonstrate how you can use the fence in training with her young mustang the day before,  I was excited to build on this.

Today, after doing our homework for a week (sans saddle for now), I was able to slide onto Stella's bare back from the fence. She has a very comfortable back. 😊

I can't wait to see what we do tomorrow!

Below are links to the three videos I shot during last week's lesson.

Third lesson with Lisa, part 1

Third lesson with Lisa, part 2

Third lesson with Lisa, part 3