Pleasant Surprise

My new mare Missy's vacation ended today with her introduction to ground work and lunging and she was a star!  She's a bit sassy so I sort of expected her to give me a fair amount of the typical OTTB grief, but instead I was very pleasantly surprised as to how she responded.  She was obviously well started for the track and at least knew how to run around in circles BOTH directions.  I've found that if my OTTBs know how to lunge at all, they were only asked to go to the left just to get the bucks out and then the rider got on.  She's very smart and was to quick to pick up things like "whoa" when asked and to eventually slow the pace down and trot in a civilized manner as opposed to tearing around like an idiot.  I was even able to use very loose side reins, which she played with, but accepted quite well.  She is very well balanced, supple, and super cute!  I think as long as I'm positive with her and lead her to believe that each new thing we do is her idea she'll progress quickly.  Patience will definitely be key with this one!  More updates on Missy and a video in the coming weeks.  Until then here's a pic of her in the roundpen the day she arrived.

Until next time....