Onwards and Upwards...Freestyle!

the last couple of sessions that i have played with jack i have been concentrating on freestyle riding the follow the rail pattern but trying with jack at the canter. the first couple of times he put in some small playful bucks then we got quarter of a circuit in canter then a full circle of the hay rack in canter! im really pleased with this as it was a nice calm canter, he head wasnt up in the air and he was listening to what i was asking.
today i played a bit of follow the rail just at walk then trot which he did really well. he is also getting better at circling a bigger circle around the hay rack rather than just being right up close to it. also he is responding really quickly when i drop my energy and ask him to stop.
today i decided to try jack with the figure 8 pattern too so that i could vary our session so they dont become boring for jack. initially he thought we had gone back to just wandering around the field turning randomly (i dont think it helps that i have really little cones, they are only about 10 inches high!), then he got excited and started jogging as i tried to ask him to turn using minimal rein. eventually after a few passes and a couple of reminders we got some nice figure 8s in walk then in trot. he picked it up really quickly and i think thats where the consistancy helps jack but having a couple of patterns i can play with will keep it interesting enough for jack.
once we had had a really good figure 8 at trot i ended the session there but it seems that jack felt that that wasnt good enough! when i had come into the field we had gone straight to freestyle and i hadnt played any games on the ground and it seems that once i had ridden jack he realised this! as i walked away he followed me to the gate and he had a restless but wanted to be with me kind of look on his face. it was so nice to see! he wanted to play with me! it felt wonderful that jack wanted me so much, dont worry, i didnt leave him hangin'! i played a couple of games at liberty with him but it seemed that no amount of attension was enough for him today so i felt terribly guilt as i left and he stayed standing at the fence for a short while before wandering off.
now that i have passed level 2 online (woo!) i want to concentrate on our freestyle and am planning on printing the self-assessment sheet so i can stay on target but knowing how much jack loves to play online ill start having a look at the level 3 online games too.
happy, happy, happy :)