Day 14

Photo by Katherine Payne Photography

Photo by Katherine Payne Photography

It was another quiet day out at the barn, which was great seeing as how yesterday panned out.  I wanted to continue with Marley's "review" and treat him as though he didn't already know some of the basics we have been working on.  He walked willingly up to the round pen and really didn't have too much trouble with anything during brushing and tacking up, so I decided I would get back in the saddle.

I got him moving on the lunge line first, using the pole again as something for him to pay attention to and have to step over.  A couple of times he was staring at other horses and stumbled over it, and each time it brought him right back to what we were doing without me having to do anything.  I like this because he is still really sensitive to pressure on the lead line, and having the pole on the ground kind of makes Marley check himself when he isn't focused. 

Photo by Katherine Payne Photography

Photo by Katherine Payne Photography

When I got on, Marley stood calmly and was very patient while I adjusted a stirrup that was uneven.  I was really relieved that he hadn't made any backwards steps with the mounting block, having weight on his back, etc.  Where he did regress a little bit though was his "stickiness" in not wanting to move forward.  On day 8 when I first got on Marley he seemed fine with me being on his back, but he was really unsure of moving anywhere.  After a while he loosened up and relaxed into a nice walk, and at one point, even a trot.  On his second day under saddle he was much better with this and started responding to leg pressure to move forward.  Both days I was more of a passenger than anything.  I wanted to encourage Marley to move, so I tried to just stay out of his way. 

Photo by Katherine Payne Photography

 Today, some of that stickiness returned.  He was comfortable moving forward when Katherine (who took all of these lovely photos!) was standing in the middle of the round pen, but if she was outside, he would freeze up.  I spent the session working on him moving around the perimeter solo, and at the end had her return again to the center of the pen so that we could end on a really positive note. 

Photo by Katherine Payne Photography

Marley also discovered the reins today.  I have basically stayed away from his face to encourage him to move forward, other than occasionally opening up a rein to steer.  Marley is responding fantastically to the reins while I'm on the ground, but he has also been standing still for all of that.  If he was moving forward and reached the end of the rein with his neck, he would move every which way to avoid it.  He figured out pretty quickly that pulling his head around wasn't effective, and again he relaxed. 

Photo by Katherine Payne Photography

Photo by Katherine Payne Photography

I am really interested to see how he responds to riding tomorrow.  I think I'm only going to spend another day or two in the western saddle before I move him over to my English tack, as I have a bit more control in it since that is what I'm more comfortable with.  I'd like to again focus on forward movement and I would also like him to make some kind of connection between the ground work we do and the under saddle work we are doing in regards to his bridle and some connection on the reins. 

Photo by Katherine Payne Photography

All said and done, Marley was fantastic today.  I look at how far he has come and I'm extremely proud of him.  My favorite part of every training session is when I get to take all of the tack off and praise and love him for being such a good boy.  My hope is that it leaves every session, difficult or not, on a positive happy note, and creates a solid building block for further sessions. 

Photo by Katherine Payne Photography

Photo by Katherine Payne Photography