We had a fabulous, albeit very wet ride, on the mountain yesterday.  I was very happy with Jasper on this ride.  We had a few "discussion" on the runway back to PJ's about whether or not it was appropriate to jig and/or run home, but he eventually conceded and decided I was right.  This was also a great ride because we brought Sammy and Bongo, so there were four dogs running around the whole time.  He did seem to be a little unsure when they would blast through the bushes and then appear on the trail right next to him suddenly, but handled it like a seasoned veteran.  We also worked on his order in the group--sometimes we'd lead, sometimes we'd take up the rear, and others we'd pack around in the middle.  He does seem to prefer to lead, but will do the other positions as well.  We didn't do much trotting since this is still in the early phases of "brain work", but we did a little more than last time.  We also worked again on some off-roading and leaving the group, as well as eating on the trail.

Jasper's pasture mate and love-of-his-life accompanied us on the ride.  Her name is Shandy and she's the most recent addition to the barn.  The owners picked her up for $200, and she's a registered 17 year old Morgan mare.  We did discover she's a bit of a kicker on the trail, and she nailed both Sissy and Ginger on the ride.  She did do a little threat kick to Jasper once, but we got lucky.  She was being ridden by the 10-year-old, Lillie, and so she couldn't do much to correct her on the trail.

On the way back, Jasper started doing this really odd behavior on the trail.  I couldn't figure out if he was objecting to the dog behind him or if he needed to pee.  We'd be walking and he'd tuck his chin and sort of hunch his back up and slow down or stop.  I started to think maybe it was an evasive behavior, but after we got back, I noticed his saddle was "scruffing" him just behind the withers, and the hair there was all astray.  I'll need to go out and do some re-shimming on my saddle and see if I can't work that out.  I did wash his saddle pad last night since some parts were getting flattened.