Responding to cues in increased speed and float training
Riding
The plan was to ride in the SCP (Scary cow paddock) and ask Pipar to increase speed over longer duration… and he was very willing! A little too willing. He wasn’t really listening. He wasn’t really *Not listening*, just not listening quite as well as he usually does.
Once we had gone through SCP we went up the hill, and Pipar was quite upset that we didn’t go the ‘normal’ way. He wasn’t listening as great there either. This time mostly with turning.
On the way back, he decided that he didn’t want to go back, and started turning up the hill instead. He listened really well to the stop cue but not well to the turning cue.
We definitely need to work on improving listening, including when he is a bit excited.
Human mistakes
My mistake was assuming that because pipar knows cue for turning and stopping at home and in walk, he will automatically know them out on a trek and in gait faster than walk.
Practical tips
I think that I have progressed the environment training too fast. Pipar is very good at following turning cues on the lawn, but he is not as good out on a trek. I think that I will need to lower my expectations of how accurate he can be on a trek and also do more work in a slightly easier environment, such as SCP or in the reserve.
Float training
We also continued with float training. For the first time, Pipar was in the float while it was moving. He was nervous, but did really well! He went on the float 5 times, so he cant have been too worried. I did stay in the float with him and treated him.
