Had a lesson this evening as usual. I've been having some issues getting both horses to lead lately. Everyone was out in the front pasture so it wasn't quite as much work but it seems I win a lot easier if I make Axel move his hindquarters around back and forth. Eventually he decides that it's easier just to follow me. I groomed him and found another slightly sore spot on his back, this time further up but not nearly as bad as the last time he was sore so we tacked up and got ready to go. Axel was feeling unmotivated as usual so we decided to work on the hill. He started out pretty slow but things picked up after a few trips up. He's doing pretty good at the walk, and he frames up and collects a lot more now than ever. But he still has a lack of momentum which I'm not sure how to fix yet. We do know he likes to weave cones, maybe he's a pole bender at heart.
Steph had to head out after working with the "kids" so I stayed to work with Cody instead of going home right away. We were chatting in the paddock when he came up to see what was going on. So I haltered him and asked him to move around a bit. His herd was out in the pasture eating and he wanted to keep his eyes on them but after moving him around for a minute or two he followed me willingly to the round pen. We started by just walking in a circle which he did willingly. I asked him to stop when we weren't facing his herd and we'd stand there for a few minutes. He wouldn't last long before he wanted to turn and face them again so we'd walk on some more. I put out some ground poles so he'd have something more to think about when we walked. Every time we stopped and he'd stay facing away from his herd he'd get to rest as reward along with a forehead scratch and a "good boy." We tried stepping over the ground poles and just stopping, keeping only the front end over the pole. He even managed to get a few sideways movements correct with a physical cue. We worked on this for probably 30 minutes or more when I decided to unclip the rope from the halter. I turned and walked around the round pen and Cody followed. I was thinking he'd probably ignore me and stand by the roundpen door watching his herd. But he kept following me. He hesitated a bit when we came back around facing the pasture but he kept following me.
I debated turning him out at that point but he still seemed interested so I clipped the lead back on and we walked down to the trailer. I worked on just getting him comfortable standing near the trailer. He'd put his nose on the trailer floor fairly willingly but there was a lot of huffing and puffing. I asked him to move away from the trailer a few times, asking him to back and then move his hindquaters. Then we'd go back towards the trailer and just stand. He'd take a few steps at a time towards the trailer and stand while I sat on the end of the trailer. I just had very little steady pressure on the rope so that when he'd step towards me he'd get an immediate release. So we didn't get any feet in this time but hopefully what we did do was helpful anyways, there was a lot of licking and chewing going on (on his part - that's a good sign that he's thinking and stuff). I still can't get him to trot on the lead but he followed me back up to the roundpen, very willingly, so I could pick up some of the stuff and tie open the gate. I tied him in the paddock and grabbed some of the apples I brought as a reward. I turned him out and he stood in the gate area watching me head out to my car. Hey maybe I'm moving up in the herd finally ;)
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