A Turning Point

Ive had a bit of a turning point with Milo recently. Ive been having a lot of difficulty keeping his attention on me while riding, and not just that he looks off occasionally, his ears are constantly everywhere else but me. So after consulting with my trainer via phone, she suggested doing some hard concentrated ground work for at least a week, or as long as needed. I started this new tactic on friday with some good results.

Actually, Milo threatened me a few times while longing, but I consider it good because it gave me an excellent opportunity to correct the behavior and keep his mind working and more importantly, focused on me. So at the end of that session I felt the score was Nina: 1 Milo: 0. We both came away from that workout sweaty and tired, but Milo was definitely more respectful and attentative.

Saturday morning after feeding and cleaning I was tired and needing to get to the job that pays the bills, so I just turned him out in the arena and gave a quick grooming. But Sunday morning I had more time. He is really mouthy and childlike and in the crossties he constantly turns his head and chews on the ties. It drives me nuts! Ive tried everything; when its in his mouth rub it back and forth until he drops it, smack him when he tries to grab it, or grab the other tie and pull his head away from it. All of which he associates with being a game. But Mom finally got smart yesterday and put soap on the ends he nibbles on. HAHAHA! One attempt to grab it made him seriously reconsider doing it again and getting that nasty taste in his mouth! Nina: 2 Milo:0.

So we did more groundwork Sunday morning and it went well again. Same rules: if you look away your feet move more, or you change direction, or you sidepass, etc. If you exhibit rude behavior to me, same consequences as before but at a higher level and for longer. So after about a half hour of that I called it good, and had a much quieter Milo leading behind me. Nina: 3 Milo:0.