And more rain and yet more confidence building

After a full day in town running errands I found a few minutes to play with Poptart in the cold, dark and rainy night... Thankfully he was nice and dry under his rain sheet :) We just played right next to the barn and in the barn aisle to have a little light and shelter. After just a few tries and a few minutes of thinking followed by much yawning he backed right up to the tire-pedestal and put both back feet on it! He really figured out the game, the answer and that the correct answer equaled much praise, cookies, and rest! Then we played in the barn with a hay bale for 2nd time working with wonderful suggestions from Claudia Lowe (thank you!) about building confidence by having the horse move to the obstacle rather than me touching him with the object. I placed the hay bale next to the barn/stall wall sticking out perpendicular to the wall and we side passed over to the wall, then practiced backing up and touching the hay bale with Poptart's hind legs :) He was a little uncomfortable still but really starting to figure out the game at the same time. Then I moved the hay bale out from the wall and squeezed him b/t it and the wall progressing to backing b/t the hay bale and the wall. The first time he did the backing up squeeze he bumped his rump on the wall --this would have sent him into orbit a few months ago, but today he just stopped alarmed for a few seconds then stepped away (yay!) and finished backing until his mouth was at the hay bale :) We then moved the bale to the middle of the aisle and I sent him over it-- he clambored over it like a goat sometimes and offered a little jump once, but was never worried! He rather enjoyed trying to climb on the hay. He was so confident I decided to start the idea of sidepassing to it and over it... We ended on him sidepassing one step , just over the edge of the bale, then studiously side passing back off, lots of cookies :) Till tomorrow... and more rain