Today we worked with Brego. I began by going over some of the basics (ala Karen Scholl), and Brego was great at standing still while I rubbed him all over with the stick and waved it around & whacked the ground with it at his side, desensitizing him. Then Tim joined me, reviewing some of the things I've done before and adding a few tasks I haven't done yet with Brego. We worked on getting him to lower his head and keep it down, then worked on "riding from the side", by giving him rhythmic pressure on his back with the stick then holding it there while he walked forward with me at his side, behind his head, similar to how I would be if on top. It was as much a learning curve for me as for Brego, but after a few tries we got it down pretty well. We'll work some more on that tomorrow.
Then we saddled up and went to the round pen. There. I practiced riding him with one rein, just the lead rope on the halter. It took a little getting used to, There was less to hold on to and I had to learn to flip the rope over his head to the other side. Walking was fairly easy, but then we sped it up and there was a lot to do in less time! After that, Tim got the longer lead rope and put it on him to give me more practice cantering. It's hard to get him into a canter and keep him there, and he seems a bit uncoordinated and choppy. We'll have to keep working on that!
We had a good & positive day, and will be able to build on it and work with him all week.
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