What a fantastic update to read, sounds like your doing great and are full of enthusiasm and energy, hats off to you and enjoy taking them out and about 

Jessica Walker Being English and riding English for years I know exactly what you mean on the 1 rein stop, but it is sinking in along with keeping my hands down! 

Wow that’s one hell of a dint in your lid, glad it took the brunt of the force and your relatively unscathed, hope you recover quickly and get back in the saddle easily, no injuries to the horse either I hope 

I will leave Richard Boatwright to answer in full but my take is as he said on the Nachees series,  once Richard has introduced the bridle and snaffle bit he never goes back to a halter to work in, always the bridle so when working the code on a lead rope then it goes through the curb strap and neck ties as realistically it’s the most practical way to tie the lead rope with no pressure on the bit while working or tied up

Lynn Morrison sounds like this has made him turn a corner and fingers crossed it only improves from here and he learns to be able to cope better with pressure situations, it will make a big difference to both of your lives.

I have put 2 of ours with ulcer/girth concerns on the bentonite clay and certainly the older girl is not wanting to bite as much when changing rugs etc, the other I’ve yet to saddle up but might put my big boy pants on and get back on the numpty soon!

in all seriousness I’ll saddle him tomorrow and see then work him in a neck rope and driving ropes for a bit 

If you have a question directed to Richard, please tag him in the message use @ then his name, no space e.g Richard Boatwright when you start typing his name a drop down box will list all people with that name and just select his name

Lynn Morrison So I looked into this and it’s main ingredient is Bentonite which I am familiar with as I used to work in the clay industry and it has many useful applications in animal feeds, medicines and other things so I can see why it will work as an inhibitor and also mood changer, might give it a whirl on a couple of mine who have ulcers and girth hesitancy 

Lynn Morrison Sounds just like any typical mare you come across in the UK!!

On a serious note I do find that lots of factors affect horses just like humans I suppose, weather, humidity, rainfall, wind, how long they have been in, other horses around them in season etc

No two days are the same with ours and the younger they are the less predictable they are! 

So what is the medicine?, interesting read and glad to see you are making progress 

Thanks Lucas Truax I was super proud of her having rode English for 40 years it has taken a lot of effort, trust and self discipline for her to drop the reins and trust the horse, super proud of Flicker also, she keeps on amazing us and going strong when most horses would be gone or retired at her age, no doubt in a few months she will be swimming in the sea again