Update!

This is definitely a much needed update, I haven't written for so long!  Ooops!  Well, I have been doing a lot of things with Gingy actually although at this point I'm not quite sure what I should do next.  Since I've been doing all this playing with him it seems like we should spend some time just hanging out but.....I have to admit I don't really want too.

Awhile ago we had a really good day at liberty in the pasture.  It was our first time being out there since last month and I felt like everything was different from then.  The biggest change was that I didn't try to control Gingy, I just let him be a horse.  In return he gave me more focus which was a big step in the right direction.  Of course he did a lot of running around and not being very focused, however there were several times where he started galloping circles around me and that made me feel special for lack of a better word.  The crowning moment, was then he had started orbiting again and I wanted to bring him to me.  I called out in a soothing yet loud voice, "Gingy whoa."  He slowed and looked at me then he came trotting over, it was awesome.  I felt very instinctual that day, like I was leading from my heart and I think it really made a difference for Gingy.

I know leading with your heart must make a big difference because the next day I wasn't very instinctual it just didn't feel like at dance the way it had the previous day.  It was one of those sessions that started out okay, got pretty frustrating, and then became very good; which isn't exactly a bad progression.  When I first came down I offered the neck rope to Gingy and he actually walked forward to stick his head through it which showed me that his enthusiasm was there.  Then out in the pasture I pretty much lost his focus before I had it which was the frustrating part.  We did lots of lead from behind which seemed to help him calm down and start hearing me, still even though he was listening he didn't seem to want to do what I was asking which was to halt.  I think at that point I should have ask him to come to me and let him graze for awhile to take the pressure off, but I got stuck on trying to get him to halt.  Finally it came through to me that he wasn't going to and then I tried to get a hold of him so I put him back in the corral for the day.  He was onto it and he didn't want anything to do with it, that aggravated me some more...oh well I finally got a hold of him.  I was still pretty angry by the time I had him in hand and well... I sorta gave him a piece of my mind...a big piece.  Interestingly enough that seemed to be just what he needed because when were back in the corral I asked him to do some circling at liberty mainly because I was still angry.  He did it very nicely and then to see if he was just doing it because he thought he had to I invited him to come to me while sitting on the ground.  He thought about it then came over and stood with his head near mine for quite awhile.  Thus yet again I learn that there is a time and place for everything, even anger.  In my case that day it brought the balance back to our relationship.  Of course this is not to say that one should practice getting angry everyday, but it's important to follow your intuition rather stuffing it in order to follow the "rules."  The rule is there are no rules right?  That's what I'm beginning to think.