Progress On the Ground...

Max was great today.  He lunged at the canter more smoothly.  His canter seems a little less clumsy.  He knows to accelerate from a trot to a canter when I lift my hand and point.  I love that.  He takes the correct lead when he takes off 99% of the time.  Good Boy!

We worked on Sending.  I pointed, clucked and waved the stick with energy near his head and neck.  He didn’t move. 

So, I rotated the stick and string as if to start lungeing.  And whattayaknow?  He moved.  He trotted across and yielded.  Yea!  I guess he didn’t remember our struggle last night, or else he doesn’t hold a grudge! LOL –

What I discovered is this.  In the segment of the Gaining Respect and Control on the Ground-1 dvd about Sending, Clinton Anderson says with most horses you don’t need to move the stick in that big rotating motion to get them to move across in the Sending exercise.  He says usually, unless they’re really lazy and hard to get going, you’ll only need to create some energy with the stick near the head and neck.

Well…that’s us…lazy and hard to get going. 

I happened to remember this part of the instructions out in the pen when I realized Max needed more pressure to get moving.  And he did it. 

I also have to wiggle the rope for him to back up when he goes too far around me or gets too close.  I’m very proud that he moved his feet at the trot during the Sending.  It was great to know I was trained well enough to get him to do it!   

We worked a little on yielding forequarters, of course.  I don’t think there is ever a day that we don’t.  But I heard something interesting about Max.  The friend who guided me to Max in the first place mentioned that no one had really been able to get him to cross his feet over.  Wow!  That made me feel better.  No wonder it was taking so long.  But now… he’s pivoting on his right hind leg and crossing over his front foot to the right. 

To the left…still not so much…but it’s getting a little better each week.  I think he knows I’m not going to let it slide.

I continued to work on Clinton Anderson's "Run Up and Rub," and I did a little “Slap and Tap”.  These are both on the Gaining Respect and Control on the Ground – 2.  Neither of these exercises bothered Max at all.  He just stood there.  Good Boy.

Too hot (100+degrees-again) to ride today by the time we got through with groundwork exercises.

We continue to make progress on the ground…

Have a good ride,

Greenhorn