This week, we spent most of our pre-ride groundwork & some cool-down groundwork over in the area where the dogs like to roam around while I'm riding in the arena. This helped him be more confident about the dogs moving around once we were in the arena for our rides. I also have been allowing him more time to sit & watch the dogs throughout our rides, which has also helped. He sure wants to be soft & I love his natural sensitivity, but we've got to eliminate the "oh no! Something's going to get me!" part of that.
Since my jumping logs are in this area, we went back to those & he'll now jump over them with no issue. I plan to set my camera up next week to capture this.
Since today was a brush, rebraid, & photos day, I introduced him to the blower. This is something I like to pull out this time of year to blow the accumulated dust off when the weather is too chilly for baths. He was pretty unsure & it took some time to get him to accept it. His biggest issue on the ground is that he'll still get into a tug of war (similar to his response about walking through the alley upon arrival). Even though I used an extension cord, I was limited in my ability to follow him with the blower when he wanted to back away or skitter sideways.
Next week, we're going to do a fair bit of ponying inside & outside of the arena. This will allow him to experience the dogs running about more & improve his ability to come off of halter pressure while experiencing more of the real world. I'll also introduce dragging the sled on the ground.
- Lexy Nuesch
Next week's update will be posted on Saturday.
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.
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