I saw that too. It never ceases to amaze me what the animals can tolerate or even thrive in. Mud would suit me fine, too. Frozen ground is tough to work with!

That's rough!

That's cold!

Samantha Jones I see. I hope you have a wonderful summer and a Merry Christmas!

Is that Fahrenheit or Celsius? 😁

That's quite a warm up!

That's us too. 7 this morning!

3, Now you want to try to draw his feet backwards one at a time. Just pull the left rein cluck. If he tries to go forward, pull the right rein and cluck. Make sure he stays soft. He might have started to draw backwards before now. If he does, make sure you release and let him soak for a minute to let him know he did right. If he hasn't stepped back yet, just continue until you can pick up one foot at a time and bring them back, then release. It usually doesn't take long before they put their head down and draw back real nice.

When you have him to where you can lead him all around the pen backwards in those drive lines and he stays soft, you can just do the same thing from the saddle and see what you've got.

If this process doesn't help, he might be sore in his back or hocks. Or, he might have a fear of backing into the box. I've seen that too. Hope this helps! Richard

2, I like to put them in a round pen and drive them in a circle around me with the outside rein draped around their hocks. Send him around to the left at a walk. Make sure he is traveling freely and is not too concerned with all of it. When he has gone around the pen a couple of times, slowly draw the outside rein in until he has to turn to the right. If he stops, just hold light pressure and cluck until he completes the turn. Now go to the right for a while, maybe 1 full trip around, and draw him around to the left using the same pull and cluck. Now your going to the left. Go around about 10 steps and draw him around again to the right. Go 9 steps to the right and draw him down again and go 8 steps to the left. Are you tracking me? Just keep drawing him through those turns and making the distance shorter until he is facing away from you.

1, Hey Zak, I'll try to keep this answer short, although its going to be hard to do!😂. Lets start with the easy stuff.

Have you had his teeth checked? He could have some sharp points or a wolf tooth bothering him. Does the bit have a pinch point or rough edge that could be causing some pain? If you can check both of those boxes, then you can go to training on him.

I would start from the ground. Make sure you can flex him easily from side to side in a snaffle. Is there resistance on one side or both? If yes, stay with it until he easily gives to bit pressure on both sides. When you have him soft laterally, you can start ground driving him.