The Mustang Diaries: Kai-Ju Days 115-119

I haven't posted Kai's recent sessions due to bad weather, Buck's foot injury, and life, but here is a quick catch-up of the last few days.

During our recent lessons, I have primarily focused on riding review and introducing leg yields to Mr. Kai. He has been doing excellent with his trot-canter transitions and kicking out WAY less than he used to. I have also noticed his overall endurance shooting through the roof. He will carry a canter for several laps around the training area without running out of steam. He has made great strides towards muscle development and subsequently lost his little beer belly (I had to tighten his rear girth one notch).

I introduced a basic hind-end leg yield in the last few sessions with Kai. The goal is to place pressure behind the rear girth while flexing his head around to ask him to step over and across with his hind feet while leaving his front feet in place. Achieving the complete hind-end disengagement removes his forward-motion motor and is a stepping stone for teaching other leg yields. It takes him a while to understand that moving his hind-end is not related to the flex but to the leg pressure. He made some improvements towards the end of the lesson and completed a handful in each direction in the video.