Partial Join-up! =D

So, today I tried lunging Sage before I hopped on. I ended up not hopping on at all, but instead untacking her after a few minutes on the lungeline, and free-lunging her instead for an hour or two. I let her set the pace pretty much after a bit of mandatory running, as long as she didn't stop I was happy. Well, right off the bat she had her ear turned into me, like always. And as we went on, she started chewing and lowering her head to the ground too! We didn't get to a point where it was consistent (got kicked out of the arena by people wanting to ride >.> =P), but it was still very cool to see that horses actually do these things! When it was time to get out, I walked to the gate and stood there with my back to her. For a few minutes nothing happened, and then I heard her footsteps behind me, and shortly after that I felt her breath on my neck and shoulder. She was soooo much more respectful afterwards during grooming, and having her injured foot handled! (The healed skin is dry and peeling, so I cleaned the little bit that's still scabbed and smeared polysporin on and around it again to keep it moisturized. She didn't even flinch! She was so calm. And probably tired XD)

I'm going to continue lunging her before I ride to see how that actually goes, though tomorrow we'll try her out back on a lunge line rather than free lunging and see if I can get the same level of respect from her.

Her farrier appointment yesterday went really well too! She was not nearly as fidgety and freaked as I was expecting her to be! She was almost no worse than any other horse in fact! And the farrier was really patient with her, and asked me before hand all of the things she was already accustomed to regarding her feet, and what she wasn't, and was very careful about not threatening Sage's comfort zones. I was highly impressed with both of them! And Sage actually has hooves now! Pretty hooves! *cheering and confetti*