Jasper had a good week! His responsiveness has really come along in the round pen. He'll move off at a trot & lope with just a point & cluck/kiss quite well. He's turning to the inside of the round pen better & keeping his attention on me instead of grabbing for grass. We also continued to work on Desensitizing, Yielding the HQ & FQ, Backing, Flexing, Lunging Stages 1 & 2, Sending, & Circle Driving. He's gotten much more responsive at the end of the lead rope. Nothing crazy, but much more willing & less sticky. We also saddled for the first time today & that went great! Completely unphased. He was a bit worried when I introduced the Popping the Stirrups exercise, but once he figured out that he wasn't required to move, he was content to stand.
Next week, we'll spend a bit more time working on our groundwork under saddle. We'll likely head out to my jumping log.
- Lexy Nuesch
Next week's update will be posted on Friday.
I do my best to get these updates posted in a timely manner, but it's not uncommon for me to be outside until after dark, depending on the weather, my schedule, & who gets worked when, so updates will sometimes be posted quite late in the evening. Don't be alarmed if you don't see your update right away. In rare cases, I may have to push them until the next morning, but I'll reach out & let you know if so.