Lesson with Cody

Tricia was busy this week so instead of a dressage lesson I decided it was time to start working with Cody. Stephanie was out working with Kiko and Kalani so I got Cody ready and we went out to follow them around. I haven't figured Cody out yet. One moment he's freaking out, trying to get back to the barn even though we're only 50 feet away from it and his girl friend is right in front of us working. The next minute he's making serpentines at the request of a light neck rein. It kind of went like that for the whole 2 hours. Freak out, behave, freak out, behave. We practiced standing still for a bit while Steph switched out horses. Cody's not the best at just standing when asked, he inches forward. He never really gave into me, would never bend while standing. He was quite responsive to neck rein and leg pressure when he wanted to be. Eventually it seemed as if he almost just gave up and he'd plod along behind Kalani. His left shoulder seemed off and he spent the last several minutes limping around at the trot. It's hard to judge just how well that lesson went, part of it was really good, part of it was really bad. I really need more time to ride him on a regular basis. Maybe I should think about paying Tricia to ride Axel while I follow with Cody for a few lessons. Axel doesn't really need time off and I can't really come up with more than one day a week right now to go out there and riding Cody alone usually just frustrates me.