Back into Training Oakey
A couple days ago I got back into doing some training with Oakey since the weather is getting warmer (20º rather than 5º 
). When I left off last year I was working on leading. Now, after only three days work, Oakey is to the point where I can say “step up” and he’ll start walking. I rarely even have to apply pressure to the lead rope!
I was having one small problem, though. I could lead Oakey straight and left, but whenever I’d try to turn right he’d run up next to me, blocking my path, and start dragging me away from where I wanted to go. I asked my horse friends online what I should do to fix the problem. They said to carry a riding crop out there with me and tap Oakey on the chest whenever he ran in front of me – this would tell him to step back to where he is supposed to be. I tried it, and it worked! Tonight in our workout, Oakey hardly gave me any trouble at all! It is so encouraging when I can worked with Oakey and actually see progress. 