Well that went well....

Today I took Ace on a walkabout. First we went up to the paddock to fraternise with Pinky.

Then we tried to relax and eat grass in the yard. That took awhile. My stepdad brought his fourwheeler past and hooked up to the arena drag because he was working on the footing in the indoor arena. The sand was very compacted, and I was worried when it froze this winter it would be an ice rink. Since it is our turnout of last resort, it imperative that the footing in there remain safe. So he had been adding a new load of sand and leveling it. That set Ace off a little and he got stuck in merry-go-round mode.

I thought he was being pretty good. I would give him an A- for ease of installing the chain over his nose, and removing it. And a B+ for leading. In fact after we had been out 10 minutes Mom commented that he was being really good considering he hadn't been turned out yet today. Hmmmmm... that I didn't know. OK, he was being really, really good!

The "whapper stick" comes in real handy to push him away without having to pull on the lead all the time. He did settle down to eat grass for awhile but remained on high alert. We grazed for about 10 minutes, and worked our way out to the house drive and back. He did rear up a few times playfully but didn't strike or crowd. He just really really felt good to be out. My plan is to take him for a walk each day. I was happy that he did not seem attached to the barn and took his new found freedom all in stride with polite manners. Getting some fresh grass was also important. That will be gone within a month.