Roach had a good last full week here this week & today's ride was our best one yet.
With the arena pretty wet, we did all of our riding outside. We did some of our more concentrated training up on the place & down in our hay yard & made several trips down the lane before our first gravel road ride this afternoon. We've been working on stopping with two reins, backing, & vertical flexion at the standstill.
He has still been goosey during our pre-ride saddling & groundwork, but he's remained solid when being ridden.
Today, the guys were polishing the fuel tanks on the truck & Roach wasn't bothered by the sound of the polisher. We also ventured a couple of miles down the gravel road for the first time & he did fantastic. Walk, trot, lope on a loose rein with the dogs tagging along. He's been doing much better with the dogs, he'll occasionally pin his ears if they get in his way. He had a few very minor young horse moments where he was unsure about things in our path (signs, spots where the water runs off, etc.); they were very minor & he would simply just move over to the other side of the lane/road & never jumped or shied dramatically. He's done well crossing the creek culvert on the lane as well. On our way back, we crossed the creek for the first time as well. Again, he did very well. I had to encourage him at first, but he drank & played once in the water.
The next few days, we'll continue to ride out & about down the gravel roads, through the creek & pastures, & expose Roach to the cattle before he goes home on Wednesday.
Roach's final update will be posted on Tuesday night.