Kai, Day 11- ground driving and stepping up

Friday was busy for me; after work I helped a lady trim a big TB gelding- I was pretty tired after that so the only thing I did with Kai was to lay over his back again. Once again, he didn't mind at all. This time I put my leg up on his hip and dragged it off- no problems.
Today, I saddled him as usual- he does still step away a little but once I have saddled him a few dozen more times he'll get over that. At least it isn't a horse eating saddle any more!
At the round pen, I went straight to the long lines, through both stirrups this time. I like to up the ante a bit each time. If he was a 2 year old, I'd spend more time reviewing each step, but Kai is 4 and should be able to retain what he learned the previous lesson.


There were a few issues but nothing major. I stayed mostly behind him, stepping to the side as needed for speed control or encouragement. A couple of times he got frustrated and just turned to face me. I did get him turning both ways and backing up. None of it was soft as he was fussing with the bit; that's one of the things I like least about ground driving - it's hard to pick up a soft feel. It is the reason why I don't spend a lot of time ground driving; once I know I can turn him each way and back him up, I like to go to riding. I'm sure there are people out there who do a darn sight better at ground driving than I do, but to me it's just a preparatory tool for riding, not an end in itself. Kai was pretty light with the reins before I put the driving lines on, so I think he'll be pretty good once I'm up on him. I have someone coming over to help tomorrow, so I hope to step up on him and get led around. Today, I stepped straight up in the stirrup and down again a couple of times. At one point Kai walked a couple of steps before I stepped down, but I think it was more about finding his balance.