ahhhhh...... Lessoning!!!! I've missed you!

So much fun today!!! Today was TRULY a day off. :) And it was glorious. :) 

I slept in a little bit.. Then I took Dan up to Morning Run Farm for a lesson with Beth. It was great!! It was good to see MRF again.... it's gotten some nice new improvements too. They now have a bigger arena, with a permanent dressage arena (full size), another arena, and a lake to swim the horses in and more trails. 

Anyways... we had a good lesson. We mostly walked, but did our two 5 minute trot sets.  We worked on connection and getting Dan tracking up from behind into the bridle. Beth said that the key was to create a connection with the reins and ride him up into it. No wiggling, no fussing, no fiddling with my hands in an effort to encourage softness. But ride him into it and let him figure out how to soften into it. It's "in his court" so to speak. And it worked. If I remember not to fuss and fiddle, he eventually softened into a lovely consistent connection. Also, I need to not be afraid of the inside rein, but don't let go of the outside rein either. :) I did note, and Beth agreed, that when we are tracking right, I almost have to think of shifting my right hip bone back a bit so that he can bend around me. And look for the eyeball/eyelashes on the inside for correct flexion. It was funny though because tracking right, his mane is so long it blocks the view of his face. ha ha! Feral pony!

It was great though.  It was nice to get back to it. I'm sore too!! But it was also extra nice because just before she would say something, I would feel it and think about how to fix it. And many times I was doing it as she was telling me to do it. Yay!

Danny wasn't exactly thrilled about getting back to work though. :) He put up a bit of a fuss and his tongue came back out. Ugh... We just ignored it and it went away. And then it was funny because he pouted and was huffing his little huff... telling us both how mad he was. :) 

Afterwards we went on a little hack around the property and found the lake. It was fun!! Then Dan hung out while I met Peri for La Parilla!! Oh how I miss Mexican Tuesdays!! I stuffed my face full of cheese dip but it was so good. :)

I'm looking forward to continuing on with some lessons. :)