Today was a slow session for us.
We did some more zone 5 driving and each time Kai gets lighter and lighter. We focused on sideways and changes of direction.
I did find some ticks on him but not nearly as many as last session.
DAY 3
Today Kai came to catch me on about 30 feet distance. It was so sweet how eagerly he came to me. When we came out of the gate I decided it would be fun to ride him back to the arena. I can mount from the ground but I thought it would be fun to ask him to stand in the ditch. It turns out that Kai has not stood in a ditch before and he felt unconfident doing that for me. So we played friendly game with standing in the ditch until he felt calmer.
When he was connected I mounted and all the way to the barn we did sideways alternating sides every ten steps or so. I also practiced asking his HQ to step left or right while we were still going forward. I experimented with touching my leg to his side in time with his feet. It was very neat that all of a sudden he was responding so much better and faster.
When we got to the arena I rode him on the rail for a few minutes reviewing stretching down at the trot. Next we did some ground driving building on the sideways we did last session. I am hoping to quickly get his zone 5 driving really good so we can start planning our level 4 online audition. We also worked on getting the changes of direction going smoothly.
We also began learning haunches in on both sides. Kai is trying really hard and can be in the right bend and still have three tracks for only half a step. I am so happy with that on the first session! I asked him to also bring his legs together a couple of times for teaching him to lie down.
We did some Liberty spins before walking back to the paddock.