Distracted Dan

 So... Dan went from a cocky bastard to obsessed with his sister pretty quickly. ;) He LOVES her so much. Except at dinner time. Then he's ruthless! ha ha. 

Anyways, I worked her first today and he hung out at the gate or in the corner the whole time. Then when it was his turn, she had the nerve to go hang out with Fleck in the shade by the hay feeder. Horrors! Dan was super distracted by this, and then some gunshot went off so he was extra distracted. So it wasn't our best session today. I managed to get a little bit of work done, and we got some good releases, but it wasn't our best work. Oh well. We at least got some releases and some pillar work. 

 

 

And it was sneaky hot today. There was a nice cloud cover and a lovely breeze and the humidity was a little less, but... it was still super hot. I think at one point my barn was 96 degrees. Ugh! After we worked I did give him a rinse off. 

 

Then I went and had a lesson with Aubrey. It's so helpful! I'm hoping to fix some of my bad habits before I get back on Dan. And... today I got to ride Lottie! It's a good think she isn't for sale because I would probably end up buying her. I really liked her. Poor girl was panting and sweating before I even got her out of the pasture. And then I was brushing her like a normal horse, not like a delicate thoroughbred! Oops. Aubrey corrected me. We had a group lesson with two other TB's, one who was only his 4th ride in. They were great and we had fun. I worked on my arms again and it was better. Slightly. ;) But still better. Aubrey stopped me and showed me what crossing the neck with my right hand does. AHA!!! It's sad how my brain is convinced my trainers are wrong until they show me and my body feels it. But I'm so glad she did. Basically when I cross the neck all I'm doing it twisting them at the poll. The nose tips in, but the head twists and nothing else happens in the body. BUT, when I pull back with my elbow and pull back and with an opening rein.... the nose tips in, but the poll stays straight, the neck bends, the ribcage bends and the whole horse bends. AHA!!! Duh. I know this... but now that I've felt it... hopefully my brain will be convinced and remember. I also had to remember to turn my shoulders and my head to steer. We got a pretty nice trot and walk. She's self propelled. Ahhhh.... that's the part of the thoroughbred that I love. A nice marching walk and trot. And Lottie is super good for me because she's long backed and likes to tip onto her forehand. So if I sit up and tall I can help lift her back up and rock her back onto her haunches. It also helps if I slowed my post and slowed her trot a little, so she's not just running. Forward and running onto the forehand are not the same thing. We also cantered. Eeeks! She got a little quick and a little squirrely. BUT once I turned my shoulders, softened on her mouth, and gave her something to do, she focused and got soft through her back again. I told Aubrey that I heard her saying to unlock my elbows and quit pulling and I knew she was right, but my brain was going "but she's running away with you... hold... stop!". But sure enough, once I convinced my brain to tell my body to soften and held with my core (which is so weak) she slowed down and it got better. I had a hard time sitting more because my core is weak, my stirrups were a hair too long and I've turned into a DQ and can't seem to sit in a jump saddle, so that wasn't helping. When I did "sit" I felt like I was slamming her back. So I half seated, but I had to keep my body back and my core strong. That's hard. But we did manage a nice canter and while she was squirrely she didn't do anything more than a few porpoises. It was fun. I really do like her. And she is helping me fix my issues. Good girl!