Day 11

Alright, about the session today? Interesting. I went to put the saddle pad on him and he wanted to move. So I let him move and just kept him at it. We went round and round about this a few times and finally, he stood while I put the pad on him. Then I put the saddle on and he stood. Mind you I don't have a halter and lead on him. I wanted him to be willing to stay, not captive. Anyway, I almost got him cinched up and he decided to leave. During the ensuing ruckus the saddle was dragged against the fence and a fence rail was broken off. I got him settled down and gathered the scattered tack and put the halter on him. I commenced to make him move alot, doing what is called the falling leaf exercise which is sending him back and forth. Then I let him rest and put the saddle on him. Interestingly, he stood still for this. When that was on him I again did alot of intense movement with him and checked for flexing easily and then got on him. I probably rode him about 30 minutes trying to get some good forward motion. He, as I found out yesterday goes soft nicely. I moved him up to a trot and back to a walk and back to a trot several times in both directions. Then I wanted to see if I could get a canter out of him. It started with just a stride or two, but going to the left we worked up to going half way around the pen. I let him stop frequently to reward the canter. Then we went to the right. This is his hard side. He gave me a trot ok and easily drops to a walk or a stop. I asked for a canter and he gave me a stride. We rested. Then moved to a trot and then asked for a canter again. He pitched a little fit, tried to buck but I kept him moving forward. He gave me a canter and I let him stop. I then got another canter about 5-6 strides and Let him stop and rest. We quit on that note.
I still have to go back and get is attention on me quicker in the round pen. He should give me both eyes when I start working with him, but he doesn't do that. He still has to play in the round pen before He finally comes to me. I got to work this out better, because his is foundational. I want him to willingly be with me, rather than just be captive. So fortunately we have some things to work on.