day four

Well, today did  not go as planned with these guys.
Darkstar decided to let me know that I needed to work on his following me more. He decided to walk off that it was better to be away from me than to be next to me. Therefore, since my thinking is that I don't want him to be my prisoner but my partner I had to work with him on this. So, we took the next almost two hours to just work on that issue alone. By the time we were done I was getting some single steps toward me. He still doesn't trust me enough to walk with me. I can go passed that issue, and I have. But it is not like he wants to be with me. So here is how it went down. I had him canter around me, and he did it willingly, for 10 laps each direction then asked him to stop. He would face me but always back up. So every time I stopped him and he backed up instead of toward me, I made him go again. An hour later he was still backing up but starting to give me a step. We were both out of breath so I gave him a good breather when I got that step. I kept building off this for another 30 minutes. Then when he gave me a good step I played a waiting game. For almost 39 minutes I let him rest facing me. I didn't move and he didn't move. Then I started asking more for some steps and he finally would give me maybe two steps, but that was all. Because of time I had to quit him at that point.
Robbie had a good light workout. I put the long line on him and had him refining the exercises he already knows. PLus we worked on getting the lead over his head and doing the turn and go. He did much better today with a softer eye than before.
While it seems the progress is real slow, at least there is progress with both of these horses.