I have a new horse and a month until my new saddle arrives. I want to use the time to focus on groundwork. What would you suggest focusing on? He’s very broke and trailers nicely. I would say his faults are simply being a Haflinger (pushy draft)! My goal is endurance and hunter paces.
Will he: Stand patiently when tied to the trailer? Respect your temporary fence (for staying overnight at Endurance rides)? Stand quietly while someone else (vet at Endurance rides) checks him over mouth to anus, listens to heart and gut? Trot in hand down and back and then stand quietly for heart rate?
I scribed at a ride last year where one horse was not allowed to start because he wouldn’t stand for the vet, and another didn’t finish because they refused to trot in hand at the midpoint vet (the vet in jog took a lot of extra help to get it done).
Can you hand graze and have him leave the grass easily when you say so?
Think about your day at a ride or pace and how you want him to behave. Then teach him that. 
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Teach him to self load. Even if he loads well now you have no idea if he has actually been trained to load on command , or if he has just been agreeable to load.
John Lyons has a great way of trailer loading and it will also help with his manners on the ground ( if he is in your space) as he learns to listen to you.
I like the groundwork taught by Buck Brannaman and Warwick Schiller. I find it to be good for improving horse/human communication. I also find that it achieves relaxation in the horse, which is extremely useful in a lot of situations. Buck’s stuff is a little harder to find (expensive DVDs), but Warwick has a video library you can subscribe to for $30/month (and the first seven days are a free trial).
I’ve just started learning groundwork this year. I still suck at it, but I really like this new challenge. And it really seems to benefit the horses mentally, with virtually no wear and tear on their bodies. I have a gelding who is rehabbing, so he’s very limited in what we can do. But we work on walking circles, changes of direction, yield haunches, yield shoulders, and back up. Also sensitizing and desensitizing to a flag, tarp, etc is useful methinks. Based on my boy’s licking, chewing, sighing, and expression, I’d say he finds all this mildly amusing and engaging without being stressful.
One word of caution: if you want to get good at it, do seek a little help. The proper cues/body language are critical…and not always intuitive.
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