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Things have been going very well with Cinny so far. We have really worked on the issues of "personal space" and who the herd leader is. I can walk him in and out of the barn, the trailers, and I even walked him onto a grain scale today no problem.
I started lunging him yesterday and I have come up with a problem that I think I know how to work out, but I am not sure. I think for one he has only ever been lunged or worked in the round pen going clockwise (right), and then only at walk and trot. Yesterday whenever I try to go the other direction with him he would go for a little bit and then suddenly stop and spin in towards the gate going all the way around until he is facing me and the lunch line is wrapped around the back of his neck. Today I worked him at a trot 10 minutes each direction for and on his "bad" side I only had him spin around on me about 5 times today.
Now the part I really really need help with is the canter. He flat out won't either direction. He almost acts like he either doesn't know what to do, or he is afraid to. The more I ask (telling him and then snapping whip) the more frustrated he gets until he spins around like above and gets the lunge line wrapped around him and then I have to stop and get it off.
I work him in a round pen. I double checked my positioning and I make sure that I am facing and going towards his hip (I don't stand in the middle like a lazy butt) with the arm holding the lunge lie straight out the direction I want him to go and the hand with the whip gently following about 4 to 6 feet behind him...never actually hitting him just snapping at him when he gets lazy...which he does on occasion.
I'm not sure how to fix the issue of him spinning around and tangling up on me, or the refusals to canter. The only thing I can think of is to take the lunge line off and working him without and trying to get him turned back around as soon as he spins on me to assert myself...would this be the correct way to go?
Any and all advice and/or critics will be appreciated. Thank You
I started lunging him yesterday and I have come up with a problem that I think I know how to work out, but I am not sure. I think for one he has only ever been lunged or worked in the round pen going clockwise (right), and then only at walk and trot. Yesterday whenever I try to go the other direction with him he would go for a little bit and then suddenly stop and spin in towards the gate going all the way around until he is facing me and the lunch line is wrapped around the back of his neck. Today I worked him at a trot 10 minutes each direction for and on his "bad" side I only had him spin around on me about 5 times today.
Now the part I really really need help with is the canter. He flat out won't either direction. He almost acts like he either doesn't know what to do, or he is afraid to. The more I ask (telling him and then snapping whip) the more frustrated he gets until he spins around like above and gets the lunge line wrapped around him and then I have to stop and get it off.
I work him in a round pen. I double checked my positioning and I make sure that I am facing and going towards his hip (I don't stand in the middle like a lazy butt) with the arm holding the lunge lie straight out the direction I want him to go and the hand with the whip gently following about 4 to 6 feet behind him...never actually hitting him just snapping at him when he gets lazy...which he does on occasion.
I'm not sure how to fix the issue of him spinning around and tangling up on me, or the refusals to canter. The only thing I can think of is to take the lunge line off and working him without and trying to get him turned back around as soon as he spins on me to assert myself...would this be the correct way to go?
Any and all advice and/or critics will be appreciated. Thank You