I keep flopping back and forth between feeling like I’ve got a solid plan for training Ace and feeling like I’m totally whinging it. But when I stop to think, it’s both.

I planned to spend as long as necessary focusing on groundwork until I saw signs that Ace and I were developing a good relationship, he understood what I was asking, and knew to move away from pressure. I was going to move as slow as I needed to to get him start under saddle. I spent probably five weeks mostly working on the ground and getting on him for five minutes here and there every once in a while.

These days, I’ve been doing a lot more under saddle work. And that’s where my plans seemingly go out the proverbial window.

For instance, last Tuesday I went out armed with my new bit on his bridle intending to focus on seeing if he was comfortable with it and working on steering, stopping, and contact. I wasn’t going to worry about much else. The problem was, he did all of those things much better than I ever would have imagined. He chewed the bit a lot at first, and did just a little head twisting and jaw working before settling in. I was completely amazed at how well he accepted it. He carried himself in a frame with his nose practically on the vertical without me even asking him to. He reached for the bit, but was incredibly light without trying to avoid it either.

So, since we didn’t need to work much on proper bit response, we went back to building up his trot work (that boy needs some muscle!) and moving off leg pressure.

Thursday was the same deal. We were going to work moving his hind end and front end, and start working some figures at a trot. But we were having a problem with the gas. Ace would go really well, and then decide suddenly he wanted to stop. He’d stiff-leg in the front, stop, and refuse to move forward. He wasn’t upset or scared. Mostly, he just wanted to be social every time somebody came out of one of the stalls. He’d trot beautifully until somebody came into the arena and he thought it was time to visit. I was, as I realized later, trying to be too busy by fixing his bending issues (with a horse who doesn’t particularly understand leg pressure yet), keeping him moving forward, and trotting figure eights and circles. I was getting super frustrated every time he stopped and balked.

And then I realized I was doing too much. I wanted to work on his bend, but before we could fix that we needed to fix the forward.

So I went back to basics and worked with the horse I had. We did transitions. Walk, stop, walk, stop, walk, stop, back, walk, stop, walk. I’d mix it up and do it as we weaved through cones or walked serpentines or up the quarterlines. And after a little while, Ace got very light. The slightest squeeze with my legs would send him forward. Then we did some walk, trot, walk, trot, walk, trot, walk, stop, walk, trot, stop, walk, trot, stop, back. And eventually the slightest squeeze with my legs would send him forward into a trot. It was a major accomplishment for us.

I know we aren’t completely past the balking issue; it takes a whole lot more than just one ride to expect results like that. But it was certainly a step - or a squeeze - in the right direction.

It was also a good lesson in training for me. It’s easy to want to try to fix evertything all once. But I have to be careful to ensure that we’ve got all of the building blocks firmly in place first. And I’ve got to remember to work with the horse I have each day, even if it throws my plans out the window.