May 29th...
Encore appears to be really comfortable being worked in his halter and reins instead of the bridle. He is very soft, and it takes just a super light hand to get Encore to respond and do what he is asked. No hard pulling, not even to stop, or back.
Once again I decided to introduce another aspect to our relationship. Time to do something that he won't have to try and figure out what I am expecting him to do. I always refer to this as "letting a horse, just be a horse". Others refer to it as trail riding, which it really is. But, if you been working a horse a lot in the arena, sometimes it really helps for them to get a way from that environment, and have a change of scenery.
We have several ways to get onto the trails on the property. The first way I asked Encore to go, he stopped and wanted to enter the arena. Which I pushed him past. However, when we reached the end of the fence line, and he couldn't see the other horses, he stopped. Even with coaxing, Encore would not continue. And I intended this to be a relaxation ride for him so I didn't push the issue.
Instead I reversed direction, and decided to try another route out onto the trails. So down the driveway we headed. Losing sight of the other horses wasn't a problem this time. He just kept walking. Then all of a sudden we came to a quick halt, with some snorting involved, ears perked sharply forward, neck arched, and extreme attention.
There was a huge boulder on the side of the drive that got his attention. I let Encore sit and stare at it, snort, and sniff. When he figured out that it wasn't going to attack him, he proceeded on his way. The rest of our ride went really well. We discovered several new things along our way. We encountered: down trees, piles of tree stumps, tractor tires, piles of rocks and boulders.
No more hesitation on his part. Just eyeball everything new and keep walking straight ahead as if they weren't even there.
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