Sigh...

Pretty good day, today. Grey and drizzly, so I took Max into the school for some long-lining. He is coming along so well, and I'm delighted with him!

He really does seem to have turned a corner and is picking things up really well. I'm sure it's a plateau, and we'll dip again, but for each step back, we're taking a couple forward, and that's encouraging. He still gets confused now and again, but we've definitely moved up a gear in our training.

When I see him get the stressy look, I stop him and we have a chat. Maybe that's a bit silly and anthropomorphic, but it feels like the right thing to do. Just reel him in, tell him he's doing brilliantly well and there's nothing to worry about, and then we go on calmly at walk again for a bit and go through the stuff he knows well. I just don't want him to feel that learning is stressful or that he's doing anything "wrong". I want him to trust that I'm with him every step, and if it's too much, we'll take it down a notch. I'm learning too, so I don't mind going slow so we can both get it right. A few strides of right is all we need just now.

Am going to have to work something out as a Max thing or a me thing. On the right rein on a large circle (using the whole school), he's started turning his head slightly towards the wall as we go along. I'm not sure if this is Max having trouble with something, or whether it's me perhaps being too firm on my left rein... He used to cut in on the right rein, so maybe I'm over correcting him? It doesn't feel like I am putting too much pressure on that rein, but perhaps I am, so I'm going to keep an eye on it and assess as we go.

Doesn't stop him going forward at all. He does more head tossing on that rein, too, but nowhere near as much as he once did. Today when I tried to ease pressure when his head was turning to the left, he immediately tried to cut in to the right... Something is going on there, but I haven't quite worked it out yet.

For the moment, when he does that stuff, I just gather him and set him straight again, no praise, no treat, but no drama either. When he starts getting it right, the praise and clicks come.
Took him off the lines to have a canter on both reins (can't do that with the lines yet, although I daresay Helen might be able to coax that out of him now, and I'd love her to have a go), and then clipped him back up to finish with a bit more trot work.

I long-lined him out of the school - only the second time I've done it. I usually lead him back. He was tempted by the grass outside the school door, but I told him to keep his head up, turn and stand so I could close the door, which he did, perfectly well behaved, then got him going down the path back towards his box.

He was really so co-operative and I was so proud of him!

As an aside, I had one of those moments, yesterday, in Max's box. I went in, as I always do, day to day life, ho hum, this is what I do with my horse. I was standing there, and my little man was tucked into my chest while I scratched his forehead, and I had this sudden, "This is my horse!" moment. Like I couldn't believe I was so lucky, like I couldn't quite comprehend that my dream had come true, and this living, breathing, spectacular creature was actually my responsibility, my horse, my best friend. Like I was seeing him for the first time. I got all overwhelmed by it, and a bit scared by it, too, I have to admit.

"How did you get here, Max?" I asked him.

"You called me, and I came," seemed to be the reply.

Ah, I knew that boy was mine the second I clapped eyes on him. Before I knew he ever could actually be mine.