This week, I felt Cactus was ready for Bend at the Walk. He was beginning to anticipate Shoulder In/Out a fair bit. He's definitely improved through responsiveness & softness in Shoulder In/Out.
On the bright side, he's continuing to move his feet less & less when asking
He's still pretty busy with his mouth, so we've been working on more Vertical Flexion at the Standstill & the Walk. He'll occasionally want to break into a trot & want to pull against me a fair bit. I may move him to a twisted wire snaffle or a square snaffle so that everything is a bit clearer, as he's learned that he can lean against a smooth snaffle to some degree.
I've also added Draw to a Stop. I'm looking for him to soften & find a release without anticipating backing up so much at this point.
Next week, we'll continue to chip away at these exercises.
Next week's update will be posted Friday night/Saturday.