Kota is here for only two more nights and is leaving Thursday afternoon. I am excited for him and hope his owner enjoys all of the toys I installed on him. I was thinking about everything I have taught him in a short 30 days and Kota can now correctly perform the following, of which he could not do upon arrival:
Standing while grooming
Standing while mounting/dismounting
Put head down on command
Walk/trot with head down on command
Trot slowly with some collection and lots of balance
Walk and trot large and small circles
Change direction in the trot with balance
Bend his body
Move hindquarters on command, both on the ground and under saddle
Move shoulders on command, both on the ground and under saddle
Back on command, both on the ground and under saddle
Canter with some balance
Canter with ability to steer
Canter via leg cue, which is not "more kicking", with correct lead
Half pass - a real one too, no leading shoulders
Side pass
Knows the meaning of the word Whoa
Will walk beside a person with his head at their shoulder
Halt when a person on the ground stops
Load "by himself" in a trailer
Allow entire face to be clipped with clippers
I am pretty happy with this list and I am sure there is something I am forgetting. His owner will ride him again tonight and I will ride him tomorrow and that will be it for my first training horse in MI and first training horse in several years. Success!
The ride last night was pretty boring, we walked, trotted and did some canter. Worked on some lateral movements, just reinforcing what he has learned with nothing notable to even talk about. I will do the same stuff on Wednesday and will be surprised if I have anything notable to talk about then either. I did have RB4 ride the TWH while I rode Kota though, she did some walk and flatwalk and she said she could certainly tell he was out of shape. He was even slightly sweaty after walking for an hour, poor guy. The TWH being the true gem that he is, however, walked along like he hadn't just had over 2 months off. No spooking, no being fast, just plodding along like he had been doing it all along. Not sure how much he will be ridden right away as I will be getting the App ready for our show May 6th but he will now be available and he has pounds to walk off.
That is a LOT to accomplish in a month. :D Sounds like you've definitely given him the tools he needs to be a great trail horse. She's going to be so happy with him.
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