Send by Success!

Today was good with Native, and I am hopeful that I have figured something out....and he wasn't just having a good day. The class is getting ready for their first ride on their colts. They're doing alot of ground work, and when they "pass" the groundwork test they get a bag.
Today was cold, about 30 degrees... but it felt really cold. The warmth was sucked out of my hands, through insulated leather gloves instantly so moving around felt pretty good.
I went through my list of groundwork exercises that Native & I are working on. Whenever I start something different he gets worried, then calms and gets comfortable until I change it again. So I am trying to keep things changing all the time so he can't get comfortable in anticipation...knowing whats next. I want him to look to me to know whats next. Even changing direction makes him uncomfortable, he stiffens up and shoots his head up, until he realizes i just want him to walk, shaped around me. I felt like it was getting as good as it gets with this horse and went to take the test.
When I have to preform I must get a bit nervous (like the horse) because it always goes much worse that it goes when I kno I'm alone. Native, of course, picks up on this and gets nervous too. I muddled through most of the exercises, but the sending around was bad. Natives head was up, he was stiff, and the hind wasn't going under. Chuck would say, "Get more Hindquarters." but I wasn't getting a change.
Chuck took Native and got more hind quarters, and a few good steps. And showed me (again) what enough hindquarters looked like.

I took Native and we worked on this some more. I had to keep asking for HQ, every time he quit yielding I'd ask again by lifting on the lead, and pointing at his hind. And then something clicked. His head came down, his legs were reaching under and I could change directions with only a little correction. I changed it up and did other things in between, but he moved correctly when I came back to the send-around exercise. The test... show Chuck, have an audience, preform in front of another.
And it went well. Native did exactly what I needed him to do. As if he was saying...I'd have done it like this all along if you had just asked properly.