He's been offering up some nice things and it's high-time I focus on bringing him along. He's gotten very little of my time over the past 6-9 mos as I've focused on Z and L3. Yesterday with Kime was great and so today, I picked him over Z (strange!). I started by brushing him down and making him look like a loved horse. Then I tacked him up and started playing on the 22'.
He did well and his allow on the circle was much better. We had a much nicer send, as well. We did some rock-slide and I'm still not getting a great sideways from him. I have to work on being as clear as possible. I'm not looking beyond him - I know that much. He's moving his fore very nicely, though.
I backed him using better body language and he knew just what I meant. I did transitions on line and they were pretty nice. We played a little with change of direction and got a decent one after several that weren't so great.
Then, I decided to take him the arena and ride him. My ankle is still sore and once I mounted I realized I still can't put it in a stirrup. So, I let my legs hang and we practiced lateral flexion and being quiet in the mouth, disengaging the hind, some slow walking and then some figure 8's. I decided I'd be more effective from the ground, so we did some figure 8's on the 22'. I felt better with my ankle situation on the ground and he was starting to understand that there was a pattern involved. He's obviously never done a figure 8! He kept stopping at the barrels and trying to put his hoof on it. He's sort of a one-trick pony that way. :-)
Actually, he did really well and I've very proud of him. He was calm, he was trying and he was easy to play with. He's my diamond in the rough. After he gains some muscle, gets a summer coat and develops more communication with me, he'll be fine horse to demo with.
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