April 6, 2016

The last few rides I've had have been very enjoyable! They haven't been perfect, but I have enjoyed most of my time.

Charmer has had quite a bit of energy, but he is also getting better at listening. I feel like I am giving him more subtle cues and he is doing what I ask.

The ride today was a little different because I didn't rude in the main arena. The arena below the cows was being used, so I used the round pen below the trailers. It is a slightly bigger round pen than the one by the main arena.

Charmer was slightly excited because we were closer to the street traffic, but it was only a few minutes before he was listening and following my lead.

I worked on turns and smaller circles, working on keeping the energy up even though we were doing the smaller circles. I think he still has a tendency to not drive forward with his hind end, which makes it harder to maintain a quick speed in a smaller circle.

Charmer is getting gentler when leading and tying. He walks along beside me and I feel like he likes being around me. He still comes to the gate when I get him on each visit and he follows my hand signals when we do groundwork in the round pen. We really have a lot of fun together!

I have found I am more excited to work with him each time now and we get great results as we work together!