How about this weather?! I guess we're skipping the mild 50° spring days & heading right to the 70-80° days next week. Hopefully, this past week is the last we'll see of the snow & ice for the season.
This week, we continued to work on Desensitizing, Yielding the HQ & FQ, Flexing, & Lunging Stage 1. We also added Lunging Stage 2, Sending, Circle Driving, Leading by the Feet, & the Lay Down.
He's been doing quite well. He wanted to get a bit strong when I first introduced Lunging Stage 2 (quick cutting-style change of direction), but now he's doing better about following the feel of the direction change. Leading by the Front Feet has gone pretty textbook. Some stomping/pawing at the rope, but he didn't take long at all to respond to the pressure on his foot. Day 1 of the Lay Down had a small amount of resisting when he realized his foot was tied up, but he did well once he decided laying down wasn't a bad option. He allowed me to rub/pat him all over with my hands & was content to remain lying down while I tossed my lead rope all over him as well. Day 2 of Laying Down didn't take long at all. I typically try to video the actual lay down once I see they're not interested in resisting, but he had laid down before I could even get my camera out.
Overall, I can feel he's getting with the program now, especially after working on Leading by the Front Feet & the Lay Down. He's been much less vocal as well.
Next week, we'll continue to chip away at our groundwork exercises while progressing through the Leading by the Feet & Lay Down process. I'd like to see him be a bit more consistent & smoother in his responses day to day before we saddle up.
My hope was to make the trip to Knotty Equine on April 11th; however, my equine dentist, who's been down south for the winter working on horses, won't be back until the end of next week. It's best to have dentals done before we work on the rest of the body, so we'll wait for him to get back.
- 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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