A little of everything

Hi everyone, today the weather was gorgeous here in the UP of Michigan and so this afternoon I got Tygs out to do some ground work. We started by practicing on our lunging, so I knew he was concentrating on me. He did okay, but evidently I'm doing something wrong, because if he stopped it seemed to be always when he was looking the other way and then I couldn't get him going again, without moving from my spot, which I thought I was told I shouldn't have to do. But now as I'm writing about this, since Tygs is learning to lunge still, I think I would have to move if he stops. He's definitely getting the idea and stopped when I signaled with my body. Next we took a walk down the road and seen these wild turkeys. Tygs was interested, but not afraid. He seemed to be wondering why the turkeys were in the road, when they should be in our yard or in the pasture! He started to get way ahead of me, so I started using the halts, which he listened very well to that. Then I would get him to back up into his space. Eventually, if he started inching up, I would halt real quick and then immediately tell him to back up. He did very well!
Next I decided to take a picture of him crossing mud/water for the obstacle challenge. As you can see, he did it right away. Because he was so close to me, I decided to see if I could get him to "whoa" there and wait while I let some of the lead rope out so I could get him in the picture, and it only took a couple tries before he understood.
As you can tell, everything is mud around here right now. When I lunged him, I decided to use our dirt road. It's dry and there is hardly ever any traffic, so that worked well.

Anyway, when I bought Tygs I asked whether he was used to being bathed with a hose and I got a negative answer. She had always washed him with a sponge and bucket of soap and water. So today because of the semi warmth and the fact his lower legs were a sight, I decided it was time to see what he would do and if we could overcome this. It didn't go perfect, but he eventually quit going around in a circle and stopped. He was a little stressed, which is to be expected, but he nuzzled my hands, which told me he was okay with it. This summer on hot days I'm sure he'll appreciate it or after a hot ride when he's all sweaty.

Somewhere in all of this, we also worked with the pressure points again. He was very rusty, so I was glad I did it. I also got him to sidestep over a small, short log, which I was proud of also. Until next time....Janeen and Tygs in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan