Hissy Fits

Things are moving along quiet well with Bentley. He is getting out of his stall on a regular basis. I'm happy with the pace we are going. Its not rushed but its not lacking either. One issue I've always had was not knowing if I was headed the right direction. Training class was always frustrating for me. I always felt I didn't get very much direction. Thus frustration would set in and I had a hard time seeing the big picture.

For once I can actually see the big picture. I can see the baby steps its going to take to get where I want to go. I know how I want Bentley to progress. He'll have some say on that as we go. But for the most part I feel I have a pretty good grasp on it. I'm very excited to see how this goes. I know I keep saying that. But its very true.

I always ask for transitions on the way to and from the round pen. Bentley listens to me quite well when I'm leading. I ask for the transitions when I feel his attention is wandering away from me. As of recently he seems to be...annoyed...with these transitions. I guess like your typical kid. Doesn't understand why we have to keep stopping. The pen is right there why cant we just go straight to it? So I've been making it a point, when we halt, to give him a good rub and praise him. I want to keep this "training" positive. He's always much more willing and calm on the way back to the stall. So I think its just the anticipation of "play" time that gets him ancy.

A couple of days ago Bentley decided to test me. On the way to the round pen he decided he wanted to go visit Tecate. I was without my whip. So I just wiggled the end of the lead line. Normally that's all the pressure I need to get the steps forward. Not this time. He still said no and wouldn't move. (Now on a side note I'm heeding him not dragging. So there is no tension in the lead at all. There is always a loop.) I then put a bit more pressure on him with the lead from behind and he did something that I thought was hilarious. He splayed out this front feet and dug in with his hind. I couldn't help but laugh. I have no pressure on his head at all. Yet he was planted like I was dragging him. The best part of it was he just kinda slumped into that position. Didn't do a spook or jump into it. Just kind melted into it. His nose was pinched his body tense and he was set in not moving. So I went to the end of my six foot lead. I walked from his left shoulder to the opposite side. We were right by the shed that my whip was leaning against. I then picked up the slack and walked back to his shoulder. This whole time he hasn't moved a muscle. Once back to his shoulder I lift the tip of the whip enough so he can see it. He stands up and we continue on to the pen. What a dork.

Now yesterday I anticipated the same reaction so I changed our route. Not by much just where we passed Tecate. I put a bit more distance between them. After passing Tecate it seems that Bentley realized we didn't walk right past her as usual. He seemed a little peeved. He thought about stopping but I caught it. Entertained the thought of turning away from me to go back but again I caught it. So he opted to just walk past me and go around the other way. He didn't bolt but he picked up the speed and tried to make me do a turn away. I closed him off to that idea and he got upset. Since I had stopped everything he tried so far he swung his butt around and faced me. With that started to go sideways. Not running just a fast walk. He wouldnt let me get back to his shoulder. Instead of making it a fight I lunged ( at a walk) him in a circle. Making him do transitions from the end of the lead.

One I was surprised that I could, at the end of a six foot lead, still get transitions. Even though he didn't want me right at his shoulder I technically still was. He tried to trot off but I asked him to stay at a walk. He swapped directions and we did the same on the other side. His next evasion was to try come in and lean in on me. Push me around basically. I used the butt of the whip to make that uncomfortable. I didn't jab just let him put the pressure on it. He stopped and faced me again. So I sat there and let him relax. He was starting to get tense. Everything up to this point was calm. He was peeved but he wasn't spazing out at this point. I wanted to keep it as calm as I could. He sat there for a second and slowly came up to me licking and chewing. I gave him a good scratching for it and we went on our way.

All in all I think it went well. I didn't take it personal that my lil colt wasn't listening to me and was trying to avoid listening. His head was held high, his nostrils were flared and he may have picked up the pace. Not once did he bolt, spook or really spaz out. In the end the came back up to me on his own will. Nothing has been set back. If anything I feel like we took a nice step forward.