rain

a didn't stop play

i decided, sod it, let's get wet and lunged anyway.

he spent a bit of time too interested in his friends in the field, and i spent a bit of time wrestling with my technique, but occasionally he relaxed and lowered his head!

methinks we need to introduce him to some rope circling ... and i do rather wish i had access to a round pen .. but we can't have everything in this life! introducing rope circling may take a little while in terms of once you start it you have to keep going for the first session until he gets the idea ....and i shall go watch Max's DVD again as a refresher, can't, unfortunately, afford to get the man himself out again ATM!

I'm hoping the gales die down again overnight so can do some more of something tomorrow...thinking i'll try the longlines with the bitless bridle, that'll get more activation and more attention and in any event i do need to ensure that he's ok about lining. he should have been lined in the past - they do it with racehorses when starting them anyway, and I'm told definitely do it in France, where he first went into training...

did put the massage pad on him ... at which point he decided he needed to roll, oops. prevented him from doing so and took it off again. now, if it was just a "i need to roll" moment, that's one thing; if it's a "this relaxes me so much that I HAVE to roll" it's another thing. so we'll see. but he didn't freak about it, which is good. As you all know, I could leave molly standing and she'd just fall asleep whilst it did it's thing.. whether I'll be able to leave him in due course is another matter!

have sold 2 myler bits so can now go buy one his size.. thinking I'll go for the hanging cheek again