day 76,77

Yesterday had a good day again with the horses. I rode Robbie first and had him moving out real good in the arena. He is still a little sticky on the left side, but he is making improvements as I am teaching him to follow his nose, and then to be soft laterally, vertically. His right side is ok, he seems to gravitate to that side most of the time if I leave him alone. I work on these things for a few minutes then let him on the loose rein walk or trot, sometimes canter. He responds real good. But not yet to my liking to get him on the outdoor arena. Star did good too inside. I did my usual gw and then rode him walk trot and canter. He was doing good so I took him outside and worked him on the ground. He was excited as usual so I worked him through several exercises around the arena til I noticed him being relaxed then got on him. Now he didn't want to be mounted, he kept moving around so I just made him move yh and yf and moving sideways on a circle until he stopped. I practiced getting on and off a few times til I knew he would stand relaxed then got on him. Now he doesn't do this in the indoor arena at all, but this is a different environment. Then I had him move off. It took about 10 -15 minutes of trotting and loping for him to relax enough to begin teaching him the bending I have been doing inside. Anyway I worked him at a walk and then got off and walked him and backed him around the arena to cool him off. Today, day 78, I rode Star first. He was nice and relaxed inside. I walk trot and cantered alot inside working on our usual exercises. The last ten minutes I took him outside and worked him only on the ground. He was real relaxed most of the time. I ended up sidepassing him around the arena and then the other way. I backed him in various ways the length of the arena. By the time I was done with him he was real relaxed. I thought I should have rode him then. But I stuck to my plan. Robbie did fine. I lunged him at liberty and then saddled him and worked him a short time. I got on him and we went to work on getting that lateral and vertical softness at the walk. Then I had him trot about ten minutes on a loose rein in both directions. Then I started working on lateral softness at the trot. He knows what to do. The last few mintues I took him outside to see how he would react and he was real relaxed the entire time. I backed him and sidepassed him all around the arena too. He did real good.