Sorry I didn't post anything yesterday. Spade has done so good the last two days but last night I came in so late that I didn't get the chance to post. So yesterday I went out with the same expectations as any other day. Spade seemed extra calm so I decided to take advantage of it. So I went and got one of my daughters old saddle pads and my trusty sircingle and came back to the pen. It just so happened that my saddle pad was hot pink. I worked him around the pen a little while and did a few of the drills that really get him thinking. As I approached him with the saddle pad you would have thought I had a fire breathing dragon in my hand. People say horses can't see color but they obviously can see certain shades. He freaked!! Normally when a horse has that type of reaction I assume they aren't ready for the next step. But I also know that we can't baby step it forever. Plus I wanted to see how he would take this next step. Once I started waving the pad around and bouncing around like a drunk man he immediately settled. (I find it funny that I have taught him to relax when I started jumping around) When I stopped I threw the pad on him a few times and after a few tosses he didn't seem to mind. Then I moved to the sircingle and did the same thing. With in a few minutes he had both of them on and was lungeing in a circle. I was really happy to see that he had no response to the gear at all. He acted like he had worn it everyday of his life. That shocked me because he has been so dramatic about everything. I left it on him a few hours and let he walk around in it. He was fine until he rolled and got the pad under his belly. He ran around a bit but figured out that it wasn't going to kill him. When I got back to take it off he was pretty worked up so I did a few drills that he is really good at to bring back some confidence. He must have remembered it because today he was even more laid back. Minus the snorts he gives me when I first walked up he started great. So I thought while he is trusting me and into working with me I want him to have fun. So to help him trust even more I opted to brush him all over(minus the hind end, still leery about going there) and give him some love. He just relaxed and stood there. I wanted to keep things slow so I went ahead and threw on the saddle pad and the sircingle. He took it very well . Then after sticking my fingers in his mouth a few times I pulled out a snaffle bit and showed him that. As I raised the headstall up to his face he actually stuck his face into the head stall!! I was amazed! I helped him figure out how to put it on. I took it on and off a few times and then slid it on one last time. He flipped it around in his mouth but was not afraid at all. I adjusted the bridle to where it fit him right and unclipped his halter. For the next 20 minutes I sat down on a barrel and watched him play with the bit and figure out how to hold it in his mouth. He freely walked around with all the gear on. He finally stopped chewing on the bit and started grazing on the edge of the pen. That was my cue to get up and release him from all the gear. I was very happy with him. He taught me today that sometimes taking a big step is the only way you will get anywhere. So even though it seems hopeless have faith and take a chance it might pay off.