Curly has the bad habit of tossing his head whenever he changes gaits. Today we started the process of getting rid of that habit. There was no riding during lesson time today. Instead, E.'s horse trainer showed her how to use some reins hooked from his bridle to his saddle on both sides of his head to help him keep it in the correct position. Whenever he would try to throw his head up, the ropes would pull him back but whenever he put his head in the right place he felt an immediate reward - no pressure.
We also began to learn the correct way to use the round pen for training. E. was shown how to use her body language and position to "tell" Curly what to do. By looking at his tail and being behind his cinch line she tells him to move forward. Shifting to the fore of his cinch and looking at his shoulder tells him to stop. There were other movements and body positions to learn as well - it was amazing to see how much the horse watches and reacts!
This is all completely new to Curly but after the hour he was getting the hang of it. In many ways he's a pretty green horse. Thank goodness that he's basically a gentle guy!
On the diet side, he's really beginning to look good. We can see muscle definition already. E. let him munch away at the grass surrounding our trailer today. He was quite happy to oblige.....
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