The joys of ambidextrous horses

I've been feeling a little uninspired to write about our horses as of late, especially since I mostly babble about the same things each time, lol. So I'll just stick to a brief synopsis.

I have been showing Koolaid to a few prospective lessees as of late and spent the wee hours of this morning completing a 5 page in-depth contract, lol. I'm pretty laid back however I still just wanted to cover all my bases and have documented insurance to protect myself, Koolaid, and any potential lessee ;)

Link has been doing extremely well, including in today's lesson. However K has come to the conclusion that it seems I have an ambidextrous horse whom I will have to almost literally TIME as I work him in each direction, to make sure that I never unintentionally over-work one side and cause him to be one-sided, since this is so easily done. Lol. Proof? We were having trouble getting him to loosen up and bend his ribcage on the right rein, which was causing him to pick up the left lead going to the right. So, over a few sessions, I worked him extra hard on that side - longer trot sessions on the right rein, lots of bending to that side, etc...to the point where he was picking up his right lead without trouble. Don't get me wrong, he still has to work extra hard to canter to the right, however he was so soft and supple to that side and was picking up that lead rather easily! Today, however, he picked up his RIGHT lead when I asked him to canter on the LEFT rein!! What the heck!! LOL. We did some bending exercises and actually found him LESS supple on his LEFT side today!!!! Lmao. SO, I'll have to work slightly harder on his left side, but will have to otherwise keep in mind to just work everything equally (as I was previously). Why do I pick horses who make me work harder than necessary?!! On that note though, we obtained some absolutely beautiful canter to the right today (on the correct lead of course, with only a few tries at it); he was soft and supple, relaxed, balancing himself, rhythmic - he just felt so awesome!!! He was even tracking up nicely at the trot at times ;) Last Saturday I also worked Link in the outdoor arena while the ranch rodeo was going on in the indoor arena. Save for a lot of excess energy and a few sharp lost-his-head moments (where he returned to focus literally 3 seconds later, on a loose rein), he worked beautifully, including picking up the right lead to the right - easily and first try. I need to get him going on some other things though - Parelli Patterns, hacks outside, etc - to keep him from getting bored though.

Mom had a lesson on Sonny today as well and both did well, though Sonny was a little spunkier than necessary at the beginning of the lesson, lol. They have another lesson set up for Thursday, which is fantastic for both!

Missy seems to be doing ok in her new home - I finally spoke to the new owners and though they seem happy with her, they have had a few minor snags with her (she being a young horse and their being not so experienced). I offered them some advice; hopefully they will stick to it and will take up the lessons I advised them to! Missy very clearly loves their daughter though, so if they give her the chance (as I've said before) and stick to a lesson program, that horse will make a great partner for their daughter :)

Otherwise, I think that's it to report!!