Shall we show the neighbours, too?

If you know Max and are invited to watch and learn about the Dually halter, Max kindly asks that you decline the offer. He feels there are enough people bossing him about now; he doesn't want it to become a free for all.

Took quite a long time over grooming him this morning; just Max and I in his box having a good old clean off and scratch fest. We were waiting for the Ent to arrive so we could go out for a walk. I took Max into the school first, for a little in hand work, Ent joined us part way through and took over, while I took a back seat (with the occasional, hopefully helpful, back seat driver comment).

Didn't take long at all for the Ent to get the hang of the Dually, but it took a little longer for Max to get the hang of the Ent being able to exert some control over him. Max being a clever, kind and quite eager to please pony at the heart of it, though, he soon accepted what was being asked of him and offered it up.

When Max began to get the confused eyes, we decided to cut the school session and take him to the great outdoors. I don't know if it's as obvious when saturation point has been hit with other horses because I haven't worked with any other horses as intently as Max, but the Ent and I both commented at the same moment that Max was losing concentration and had had enough.

The great outdoors was a little less successful as Max wanted to have a graze, and to stop him doing that one would have to be quite rough with the pressure. We'd gone out without the schooling whip, and that was a mistake. He didn't need it the sound and motion to encourage him forward, but the occasional whoosh would have got his head back up and pointed in the right direction.

Another try at longlining in the week and then, if my back is up to it, a little bitless riding in the school.

Things learned today that are worth remembering: Massaging the tips of Max's ears makes him go all dopey and relaxed.