Another week has passed and Santana has been gradually doing a little more each day. He had a day off on Saturday as it is riding club day and there are just not enough hours in the day. Sunday was pouring with rain, but we battled through the elements and had a good forty five minutes of riding. Unfortunately we don't have an indoor school or an all weather surface so it was a tad muddy. We weren't able to canter in the mud as he was slip sliding about just trotting. We did manage a canter along the straight side of the field though.

I am now able to mount using the stirrup and he doesn't bat an eyelid. How laid back is that?!

On Monday we started off on our own for the first time, ie. without a leader to follow. He was a bit perplexed by this and it took him a few circuits of the circle to settle down. But he was fine after a while. Today (Tuesday), he didn't even want to come in from the field. He stopped at the gate and wouldn't budge. It took a bit of persuasion and the assistance of a carrot to encourage him out of the field. He had changed his mind by the time I had tacked up though and was in a better frame of mind. Today he felt much more relaxed and I felt we had made progress.

I feel as though he is very heavy in my hands at the moment. I'm hoping that as his training progresses he will lighten up in front. It's rather like driving a car without power steering. Also, if he's spooked by something he doesn't take any notice of the bit and is very hard to pull up, whereas if we are just walking or trotting along he'll stop in an instant. Again, hopefully this will improve as he understands more.