Building back up

Alex and I went back to work.  The arena was a bit wet, from a recent watering but I decided we'd try to get something done anyway.  Lunging went really well, no mischief, except when he slipped a little once or twice and made himself mad :-)  The slight amount of flat work we did was nice, controlled and uneventful.

I decided to continue with the tiny cross-rail and trot poles until Alex's anxiety clears a little bit more.  I'm happy to report that after our little session the other night, he walked right up to it from both directions without trying to stop several strides away, hop around or rear.  That in and of itself was a vast improvement, but he also managed to jump without being too rushy.  We did have to stop and re-approach a few times, but he didn't throw a fit and try to rear.  I count that as success. 

If things continue to improve, I will probably consider going back to a very small grid, but most likely not for a little while.  I want to continue to work on the rushing a little bit before we add to many other variables to the equation.  It's very important that I get it right this time... I don't want to have another set back.

Unfortunately for those of us in Kentucky... the groundhog lied.  It's cold and will probably stay that way for a while longer.  I'm ready for spring

Happy Riding Everyone :-)