Gem on the 45'

Had a little time to get Gem out on the 45' today after work. It was a fun session! His draw is excellent and now I'm working to keep him farther away, which makes me happy. He trots in with energy at the end of the 45'. I really think our trail rides have had a postive impact on our relationship, too. He's more respectful, more engaged, he's doing great.

We did lots of zone 5 driving tonight. I still have not used the feather lines, so next session I will pull those out and start driving with 2 lines. I'd really like to get where we can go for a jog down the trail so I can get exercise while we build our zone 5 driving.

At one point, on our circle game, the dogs were in the way and we both worked to avoid them. In doing so, he went out farther and got scared. I tried to hold him, but the 45' is so hard to grab. What was interesting was that this time, when he got away, he looked at me and thought about it. I probably could have asked him back in at that point, but I was so surprised to see him think about it and I didn't respond in time. He trotted away, but only about 10 feet. This is a huge improvement! A few weeks ago, he would have galloped to the barn! This made me happy and he got a carrot for coming back to me. Just an all around big change for Gemini over the past few weeks.

I had the puppy with me and he was quite a distraction while I played. But, I really enjoyed seeing Gem move and seeing his expressions and all the questions he asked me throughout our time. I'd like to improve sideways at a distance and start building 2 line zone 5 driving.