Rewinding

In light of the issues that have been popping up and Stinker's inability to think through things, I have decided to take a few steps back.  This week we are just going to be walking.  He still has to move off my legs and be soft, but I am not even going to think about trotting.

I am hoping that I have just been pushing a little too much and this is him telling me that he isn't ready for it.  That is totally ok, I am not on a timeline.  What I don't want is to keep pushing him if he is feeling fried and ruin his work ethic.  He still seems to enjoy getting out and working and I really want to keep it that way.

We have super classy things like this...

So far things seem to be working fairly well.  Saturday we walked in the ring.  For some unknown reason the ring is his security blanket and he actually relaxes better in there when we are struggling.  We still had some of the same issues (OMG legs!!!), but overall it felt productive.

I really don't know how people get cute selfies

Sunday, we walked on the hills.  I was actually pushing my luck because they were turning horses out right as I started riding.  The horses aren't led in and out, they are just turned out in groups and they run up to their pastures.  It just so happened that the pasture with the hills is the one that all the groups run through.  Stinker loves his turn out, seriously he had to have a mat put in the front of his stall because he dug a hole pawing waiting for his group to be let out.

My most majestic beast

I was quite pleased with him.  He looked and got a little tense, but didn't get rude or jig.  Even when his buddies were let out.  It was a very low key ride, but it was the first one in quite awhile that there was not any sort of meltdown.  He went to work, did his work, and was very polite when we were done.  I am cautiously optimistic that this rewind will  put us back on track.