Horses don't always do what you want but they always do what you tell them (Pat Parelli).

Today when I entered the paddock Kai put his head down to eat grass and pretended not to see me. Then he slowly began moving away. As I approached, Kai did not turn around and come over like he usually does but instead turned away from me so that I could see his bum. I gave him a chance to nicely turn around and catch me but he did not want to. I put on my sneaky face and started to sneak closer to his HQ. Then I got close enough to tag him but too far to get kicked. I paused momentarily and then tagged him hard with the end of my lead rope. Kai was just asking for a good game of catch the human. He flew to the left and galloped through the other horses who were peacefully eating hay, causing a huge commotion. All the horses except Ori and Roxy were galloping around the paddock with Kai in the lead. Soon some of the horses realized that all my energy was directed at Kai and that they did not need to run. I put some more pressure on Kai and waited for him to give me his eyes. Kai quickly walked over to me. I rubbed his back with the halter and scrubbed some dirt off of his HQ with my fingers before reaching to put the halter on. As I lifted my hands Kai took off, just fast enough so that I missed tagging him again by a few inches. He got the other horses running and I thought to myself: oh it's game on Kai! I directed more energy at him and he galloped faster. Then he got bored of this game and trotted over, this time staying as I haltered him.  This really made me wonder how he will catch me next session.

When we entered the indoor arena we got right to work on jumping halfway over an obstacle at liberty to engage his mind right away and keep things interesting.

I needed to cue him to stop with my body not too early and not too late. Every time Kai did exactly what I told him to do. I eventually got my timing right and Kai understood what I wanted. He was connected and responsive and willing.

Then we went outside to play the circling game. We worked on transitions and changes of direction and draw. I then worked on asking Kai to maintain gait after doing a flying change. At first Kai was resistant but then he did what I asked and we quit on that.

Kai and I have been working on cantering for the past few sessions. We got to the point where  he gets the correct lead nearly every time. If he does get the wrong lead I put slack in the line so that I do not put  him out of balance and bring my energy up and he switches. We still need to work on him maintaining gait for more than one lap. Usually after a little bit of playing he would canter about three circles.

Today I worked on soft changes of direction. When we got to the canter I worked on a good draw first. I began by sending him at a canter an then I invited him in. Soon he did two flying changes because we had such a good draw that all I needed to do was politely send him the other way. And then, of course, I’d invite him in and give him rubs and cookies.

Then we played with zone 5 driving. First with one line and then two. We worked on walk, trot, canter transitions. Kai was leaning on the lead line at first so I got after him by bumping the rope. Just then Dad brought Kai's breakfast for him. Kai immediately disconnected and it was clear that the only thing on his mind was food. I quickly sent him on the circle and asked for a flying change before giving him his breakfast.

After he finished eating I asked him on the circle once again and re-established his draw. I do not want him to assume that every time I invite him in that I will resend him the other way with energy. I made a pattern out of this by repeating it seven times. Kai was calm, connected and responsive. And tired! All that cantering was hard work!
I began this session with the intention to make Kai tired because he was going in a paddock with a different herd. Last time he was in a different herd he was beating up the other horses and the other horses were beating up him! He was just asking for trouble. I thought it would be better that I worked with Kai beforehand so that he was in a good frame of mind and hopefully less naughty. My idea worked so far and he was calm in the paddock without any fuss. I just hope that he is not beat up when I visit him tomorrow.

Today we got connected by playing stick to me. He cantered with me so lightly and sweetly that it was almost as if it was the end of a session instead of the beginning. I think it was because I had reastablished my leadership yesterday.

I asked him to jump three low jumps (cavalletti) once in each direction before quitting  as he did them calmly and willingly.  

Since we earned our blue string I decided it would be a good time to try out the forty five foot line for the first time.  Armed with the lariat Kai and I headed to the middle of the arena. I asked him to back out almost to the end of the line. Kai backed up with little hesitation at phases one two. I told him what a good boy he was as I invited him back. The second time I asked him to walk on the circle and do a couple of changes of direction. After we did the same at the trot I asked him to canter.

We worked on maintaining the canter until he did two laps in a row each way. Because Kai was so soft I asked him for a flying change and he did it no problem. I brought him in and praised him by scratching under his mane where he likes it.

Then I decided to play with the ball a little bit so that he could have a break from cantering. I asked him to push it first and then I bounced it and put it on his back. At first Kai moved his feet but I asked him not to. The next time I put the ball on his back he stood and licked and chewed.

Next we did some Liberty.  We started with stick to me.  Kai disconnected and ran to the other end of the arena. When he connected again he walked, then trotted towards me. Then, for the first time ever he cantered towards me when I kissed to him.

I decided we would work on backing up by the tail. We progressed from me tapping his tail with my fingers to ask him, to holding his whole tail, and finally with just a few hairs. I kept increasing the number of steps he took and then we stopped when he did twelve steps in a row.  What a session!

The last thing we worked on was doing yo yo game with his head down. Kai tends to back up with a hollow back and to throw his nose in the air. I decided to teach him to lower his head  when he felt me wiggle the rope instead. I only released when he lowered his head and kept backing up. I began by holding the rope a foot below the snap and wiggling it just enough that he felt it on his nose. Kai reacted by throwing his head in the air. I kept wiggling the rope and lightly ''bumped'' his head down. I repeated this a few more times and Kai licked and chewed more and more. I could see him trying very hard to understand what I wanted. I soon began to stand at an arms length instead of right next to him so that I was close enough to show him and help him lower his head but far enough away to give him a chance to solve the puzzle himself. I helped him lower his head a few times and then gave him a longer chance to do it himself. There was this one moment when I was wiggling the rope and he lifted his head up out of habit and then corrected himself and lowered his head back down and then put it even lower! I praised him like crazy and then asked him again. Kai did it one more time and we quit. Kai stood next to me with a very deep look on his face. I waited and he licked and chewed and then began to yawn multiple times. I love teaching Kai something new and helping him figure it out.

Today as I was grooming Kai up he was a little more pushy than normal. I corrected him and continued to brush him and then I tacked him up. When I brought him to the indoor arena I asked him to go on a circle and he kicked out at me. I quickly backed him up all the way around the arena for a lap and a half. Kai stopped kicking but he was still being very sassy and was testing my leadership. He was pushing on me and testing me in every way he could. He did not want to yield his HQ and when I invited him in he came and tried to push me with his nose. The last session he was testing me this much was June second (My birthday!).

I needed to correct him big time. After I re-established  my leadership and he was soft and responsive I went for a short ride before heading out for a trail ride. When we came back I took my sister for a ride on the lunge-line, and then my brother.

Now that I write this and reflect back on the session I think I know why Kai was so testy. I remembered that right after I took him out of the paddock I let my sister lead him. She is much less confident than I am and Kai must have sensed that. I usually only let her handle Kai after I work with him but I want her to be more involved with Kai so I thought it would be ok to let her lead him. I show my leadership and confidence right from the moment Kai sees me. He usually tests me in one little way, for example by pulling back slightly. I always correct him and we continue to the arena no problem.  I am now aware that Kai looks for my leadership right away and he needs me to be a leader for him from the start and that I naturally did it without even thinking about it.

Today was the first time I went to play with Kai since he came back to
Meadow Brook. I decided that today we will take it easy and just enjoy
ourselves. He met me at the fence and eagerly followed me to the
indoor arena.  We did some stick to me, porcupine game and some
circling. I then went for a short warm up ride practicing slow
trotting. I thought it would be nice to go on a trail ride so I put
the pad on and did some yields. When he was super light and responsive
we headed down the road. Kai was a good boy the entire time--even when
going past the stud paddock. This was our first trail ride at Meadow
Brook.