I can't believe I played with Moose for 2 hours today! But the clock doesn't lie. . . Just amazing. It seriously felt like 45 mins :) time flies when you're having fun.
But anyways, today was terrific. I was originally very direct line (what a nice day! we should go riding!) but then as soon as I saw what effect it was having on Moose I quit, and decided to instead focus on getting him to participate in what I would like him to do. So I waited until he could follow me at liberty to where I wanted to play. And once he could do that, I brushed him and haltered him up. Then I trimmed his back hoof a tad, but he got impatient and my back was hurting so not for long. Since I brought the bareback pad out, I decided to play with that a little. And I also learned an important lesson: don't let your horse chew on the leather straps that tie up your girth on the bareback pad. Mine now have chew marks on them. Haha so much for keeping it in good condition.
But yes, the bareback pad. I put it on and then Moose got really 'sleepy,' and I'm going to guess he got introverted. I asked him to come to me and he was stuck, he couldn't move his feet, it was like he was dazed. So, I took it off and had him move 2 laps at the trot.
Then, we repeated this for the rest of the time. I'd put the bareback pad on, have him move a little with it, see how comfortable he was, and then ask him to trot 2 laps so he'd get any introvertedness out of his system. He started asking questions, too, which was awesome. The last time I had him do his 2 laps, he blew out and followed me back to the bareback pad with all 22' of the line on the ground, and I sent him to the bareback pad and he touched it. It was a very harmonious feeling. I felt the beginnings of a true partnership right there. Terrific day.
