June to June

This June, it's been one year since I bought Ransom.

Last June, he was making friends in the herd and learning to escape the wrath of its alpha members. I watched him buck around the roundpen. We took our first rides in the late afternoon after I got off work. With the voices of campers echoing all the way to the back arena, we worked on moving away from leg pressure, transitions, and picking up the right lead at the lope.

This June? Ransom's put on a few summer pounds. His adult incisor teeth have erupted almost all the way. We venture out on trail rides alone together. He's discovered that cows aren't as scary as he thought. Our arena exercises include starting spins, simple lead changes, and rounding his back. We took our first brief bridleless ride last week.

Here's to many more Junes together.