Passenger lesson...tedious! But it was a great exercise to discover many things. Red was really unsure what to do without any real direction and would only take 2-3 steps the whole lesson, except for two instances, one where he'd managed to line himself up with the ball, and one where he'd lined himself up with the cones, when I asked him forwards he wandered over to them to investigate. Perhaps this is a repercussion of me playing the Touch It pattern. I wonder how long it will take him to realise he can just wander around?
Also had a chance to put some of last nights learning into action. I learned on the video that I'm supposed to squeeze with my calves by turning my toes out and heels down. This was like some kind of magic trick as Red suddenly got it. I only had to use a cluck a handful of times to get him to go and only had to lead out a foot once.
So although it is slow, this is progress, and I guess something will just click and he will get the idea.
Also took him for a big walk through the forestry. I was gleaming from ear to ear. His confidence just blew me away. He charged off and walked confidently. As this was just a nice friendly type game, I let him walk where he wanted to and stop to eat if he wanted. He walked along with me in Zone 3, normally he'd be slightly behind me and kind of tentative. He walked at a good pace, kind of fast compared to his usual pace and confident. His ears were forward and he seemed really eager to go and investigate new things and didn't hesitate to stop and hoover down some of the nice long grass. He never ceases to amaze me. Different situations bring out a different horse and I adore seeing all these different pieces of him.