A good week for Newt! We made it into the round pen consistently, which went very well. He's picking up the trot or lope consistently with just a point & cluck/kiss without much need to encourage with the flag. We continued to work on Desensitizing, Yielding the HQ & FQ, Backing, Flexing, Lunging Stages 1 & 2, Sending, & Circle Driving. On occasion, he'll still get a bit sticky when asking him to come forward off of halter pressure, but next week we'll work on the Leading Beside exercise, which should help this even further. I also did some desensitizing to the saddle pad. He was a bit unsure at first but was relaxed & unbothered after a few minutes.
Next week, I'll introduce the Leading Beside exercise while we continue to work on the others. I hope to also make it back out to the jumping log. My goal is to do his first saddle about mid-week. My ankle is doing great, but I want to make sure I'm nice & limber so that I can get out of his way in case he does have a reaction to it.
- 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.