We've continued to work on our groundwork. I have a goal of showing Beetle in May in an “in hand” category where you lead the horse (rather than ride).
Beetle can get impatient and try to barrel ahead of me when I'm leading him. We've been working a lot on walking slowly and have him match my pace and follow my lead.
He did so well in the above video! Often videos like this aren't what get posted - it's not exciting footage of a horse jumping a huge height, for example. But don't let that fool you - it took months for us to get to this point. What looks easy isn't always what is easy!
Our training is already paying off. The night we took this video, I then was leading him to his pasture. I slipped in some mud and lost my balance. Had he kept walking, he would have tugged on the leadrope and I absolutely would have fallen over. Instead he stopped dead, and I was able to regain my balance. What a good boy!
