Priscilla, that's great! Tell Kirsten I said congrats!!! It seems to me that Kirsten will be putting that old trainer out of business here in a few years! "Untrainable", pfft.

Okay, Sara - I think it's important that a horse will move away from you when asked. My first BLMer, Hammar, would stand on my feet when I showed him a rope (I didn't adopt or start him, I'm his 3rd or 4th owner and the previous "trainer" was very harsh). It was as if he would say "PLEASE don't hurt me, I won't run away!" But he was a danger to me, and had to be taught to move away. Kizer doesn't sound too dangerous, but he could do anything at any moment. Horses are unpredictable. I would suggest sending him away from you with either a soft rope or a lunge whip/dressage whip/buggy whip/training stick of some sort. If you use a rope, swing it slowly at first towards his neck and shoulders. Let it tap him, and swing it harder and harder (but progress slowly!) not enough to hurt him and you need to still have control of the rope so it doesn't hit his ears or eyes or anything... But keep the pressure on until he moves away from the rope, even if it's just a single step. As soon as he even shifts his weight away from you, drop the rope completely! This will reward him for his try. Give him a moment then start again, very softly at first. He ought to pick up on the cue eventually, and you can start asking for more and more movement until he will move around the round pen freely.

If you are using a stick/whip/whatever, tap him on the neck, softly at first, then slowly increase the pressure until he moves. You don't want to hit him hard, because firstly you can loose control and accuracy and hit him somewhere you don't want to (ears or eyes or whatever) and secondly you want to be able to keep it up for a long time before your arm falls off! Same goes for the rope of course. Follow the same procedure, releasing the pressure at the slightest try at first, and starting again as softly as you did the first time. Kizer will start moving off and a slight tap eventually. Hopefully, lol. Every horse is different of course, but this is the way I would try at first.

Another thing you can try, to get him used to the idea that you can give him cues from a distance is Parelli's Yo-Yo Game. If you've never heard of that, here's basically how it goes; get a long lead rope on Kizer and stand right in front of him. See if you can get him to back away from you when you wiggle the lead rope, then come back to you when you gather up the lead rope and reel it in. Again, start gently - wiggle the lead very softly and slowly, then increase speed and energy by increments until Kizer takes one step, even a tiny one, back. Then drop the lead to release the pressure immediately. When you ask him to come forward start by just running your hands along the lead rope, using the friction to cue the horse. At first he probably won't respond to this, so you start closing your hands to increase friction until he steps forward.

I think if Kizer figures out that even if you're not right next to him you can still communicate with him, he will start making leaps and bounds! :) I know you're worried about pushing him at this point, so use your judgment and instincts; if he reacts badly, take a step back and think about it, maybe try a different approach. Safety needs to be you're number one priority, not a blue ribbon. Again I think you will be safest if you can get Kizer to move around the pen without you next to him in case he spooks or whatnot; you don't want to find yourself beneath the hooves of a wild horse! Good luck, let us know what works!

If my mother in law shows up today I will try to ride Nine again. I have a good feeling this time :P