Check. Check. & Check +.

Peppermint treats? Check. Feet trimmed? Check. Trail ride? Check plus +!
So the farrier came out today & took care of Cheyenne's poor water damaged feet. They look beeeautiful again. Back to those hardy mustang hooves I've come to know & love. I decided to hop on today without lunging... partially because I hate lunging (so boring... for both of us really) & partially because I just wanted to see how she'd do. So we went for ride five, no lunge. And... she did spectacular!

My goal today was to ride her to the other side of the property, just to expose her & desensitize her to some new sights & sounds. Well she did excellent (minus a minor spook @ the noisy pigs... luckily she spooks in place!) So I figured... what the heck, I'll take her down the drive way to see how she does. Well we got there in one piece... no cars... so I decided to walk her down the road a bit. Well a bit turned into the entire length of the road, all the way down the the intersection at a major road. And would you believe it... she did wonderful! She was definitely cautious & a bit concerned about what was going on around her, but after a short time she really came around & began to relax. The only real issue we had was on the way home. She was DONE after our hour & a half ride and just wanted to haul her hiney back to the barn. She took off at a trot a few times (which, of course, I still CANNOT get her to do in the arena... go figure) but I was able to slow her down to a walk again. She was also antsy about stopping on the way home, but after a few minor scuffles I got my way (we are both VERY stubborn... I'm just more-so =))

Overall I'd say ride 5 was a smashing success. I really feel like I could take her "real" trail riding. (although I'm somewhat convinced traffic is more frightening than anything I'd encounter on a trail ride.) I'm definitely going to need some help from the ground getting a trot out of her yet though. I don't think she's made the connection between the cue for trot from the ground & the cue from in the saddle. I just need someone to lunge her at a trot with me on her to tie up the missing ends. That or she's just lazy... I'd say it's 50/50 she's just being lazy. I'm still in awe at how well she's doing. Of course it's still a bit rough around the edges, as would be expected... but I am just in shock at what a wonderful, level-headed little horse Cheyenne has turned out to be. And people told me mustangs were crazy... hah! :)