Continuing with Baby Driver
Why didn't anyone tell me that ground driving was so fun? Now that we got through the initial introduction to it, he seldom has any big misbehaviors. In fact, he had one really bad day where he tried everything in his bad horse arsenal, and I just patiently worked through it and ended on a good note. Well, that was it. He has been super ever since. (This is something that has happened in other parts of his training, too. He has a really bad day right before he gets really good.)
I really enjoy ground driving, and Trifecta seems to, also. When we are walking, he gives me such a lovely, free flowing, forward walk. He is usually very attentive to me, too. His mind seldom wanders away like it used to when we were lounging. We sometimes have troubles in the indoor arena with him wanting to visit the horses in the stalls along the perimeter of it. He usually does better in the outdoor arena. The only real trouble I have out there is that he can be distracted by the horses in the turnout areas--but the distraction usually doesn't last that long.
We walk all sorts of figures. I have to coordinate myself to switch sides when we switch directions--he pays very close attention to where my body is.
Lately, we have added in some trotting. That is more challenging, of course, but mostly for me. I have to be quicker on my feet to stay in the correct position. He doesn't have a really fast trot when we are working, and that is an advantage for me. Just the same, when we trot, we do very few straight lines. Instead, we do circles, half circles, serpentines and figure eights. We also do walk, whoa, walk trot transitions. It is just so fun. I feel like I am riding because these are all things I would be doing if I was riding him.
I am driving him with a surcingle and a side pull hackamore, and it is working very well. Eventually, I will switch to a bit, but there is no hurry. Riding is still a long way in the future, so the saddle and bridle can wait for a while.
He is just learning so much from this. He is getting used to having a girth around his belly--and standing still while I put it on. (Clicker training is very useful for that.) He is learning how reins work, extending out his attention span, working with distractions, standing still when we attach the reins, standing still when he gets tangled in the reins, standing still when we untangle him from the reins and having me work with him from behind which is very similar to working with me above him.
This has been so worthwhile!
I am teaching Cole to ground drive next winter...
