After my videos of Gloi on the trail where I felt I had to use more muscle to get him to go where I wanted due to him being away from the mare who was calling to him to come back to the barn, I rode Gloi up in the pine trees and had a really good ride. Of course I have no video of it. The pine trees area has much softer footing, no rocks, just some stumps and branches to go around. The trees are very close together and we were able to negotiate the trees with very subtle cues using the sidepull. He was very responsive and we were able to weave around the trees. He was willing to go faster given the circumstances and area. He was paying attention to me. The mare was up in the pines and just hanging out.
This is a big change from 6 months ago. I have been jumping on his back bareback after feeding in the evenings probably at least 5 times a week for about 10 minutes at a time. It is in the paddock area, not a very big area. We started with the neck ring and really did more 'pushing passenger' type riding. Not as much steering, just getting him to go and stop. I put such a good stop on him last year that I really had to teach him that it was okay to go. With the sidepull, I worked on going around cones, serpentines, turn on the forehand, sidepassing. Just a few minutes at a time over a long period of time has made a big difference in our ability to communicate. -- Anna
