Back to lunging!

Imogen had two big things happen to her today! Like I mentioned yesterday, today we went ahead and did our first lunging session outside of the roundpen. This is an extra big deal because the arena we were working in is not fenced in at all... this was a VERY big step! Lunging within the confines of a circle is one thing... lunging without is a whole 'nother ballgame!

On the whole, she was great - I don't think I could have asked for better considering the circumstances. P, of course, was hollering for her the entire time, the stallion that lives right next to the arena was rearing and putting his front feet over the sides of his pen, and the wind was gusting at 40mph. She put her game face on, and despite a few scoots and spooks, she kept it together and went to work. She did start out doing large ovals, ducking in on one side and pulling hard on the other (the side face where P was), and going to the right she slammed on the brakes and turned to face me a few times when she pulled on the line too hard on her own. I sent her on, and she ended on a great note, keeping even tension on the line the entire time and responding to a "walk" and a "whoa" command. 

You can see a bit of the pulling tension here... she's obviously not ewe-necked, just pulling! She's also still in her catch halter, just for a few days until I can make sure she's still totally catchable all the time!:

Notice the other new item? Boots! This is the first time she has worn them. I guess those crappy neoprene boots have a use after all ;) She was a bit concerned about the noise of the Velcro, but didn't mind them on her legs. We'll see how she does on the back legs at a later date, we're not quite ready for that yet. You can also get a decent view of her feet, which need to be done... they're not terrible feet, but they leave a LOT to be desired:

Tomorrow is a crapshoot due to the weather - we are supposed to possibly have severe thunderstorms and cruddy rainstorms on and off all day, so we might not get to do anything productive. I of course gave her a bath today, so you know she'll be rolling in the mud tomorrow! I made a stab at braiding her mane over to the right, and I washed and conditioned her sad, sad tail as well... we have much work to do on all this messy hair. MUCH work. 

And also.... P and Immy are apparently now besties for life.