Good Day, lovely trot

 Today was a stay at home day and it was so nice. I LOVE having an arena to ride in... especially one that is safe and clear. And then I love having a neighborhood to ride in. :) It's a nice little extra bonus. 

 

Mike and I had lunch and I rode after. I rode Lyric first and then rode Dan. He was a bit sad because they all hung out at the barn while we rode. I know dude.. so rude! You always come up and keep them company in the arena... and they just diss you. Rude! He called out a few times and once he called hard enough that he put himself into a coughing spell. Hee hee. Simmer down buddy simmer down! (To be fair, he is still coughing from allergies or the cold that Funny gave him, but it is getting better!). But for the most part he was good and worked. He only had a few distracted moments. We started off doing under saddle pillars at the walk, including a few attempts at pillar 3. We got some baby steps so yay! After we did our walk work we went to the trot. He was getting a bit bracey in the walk and I feel like he's much more responsive at softening at the trot, so we moved on. 

 

The first lap or two of trot felt a little stiff, but then he smoothed out and within a few laps he felt quite nice. We got some really lovely feeling trot today! And he got very smooth, very floaty, very powerful feeling.... all on the softest of connections! But I do think it was a connection, not just ... well,... he was in self carriage, so... at that point... does one NEED a connection?! I mean... I guess if he's in self carriage but is connected enough that I can whisper with the reins to help remind him to soften again... isn't that the ideal? Whether he's connected via contact or not?? I don't know.. it feels great and he seems happy so I'm going to go with it! We played a little bit with some shoulder in on the short sides of the arena, so I wouldn't be tempted to hold it too long. And I was soooo tempted to canter because... he felt so good and he felt so forward. He went to that place where he gets all puffed up and show off-y. But I didn't. We did a tiny bit of trot lengthen to appease us and then.. we quit. :) 

 

I walked him back to the barn and we grabbed Funny and then went for a hack around the neighborhood. It's so pretty this Fall. We got such a nice Fall with the weather and the colors. Dan got a bit squirrely and geeked up for some reason. He wasn't bad, just.. bracy and on edge. We did a little bit of trotting to see if it would help and he settled a tiny bit, but... weird! Not sure why he was all edgy. But we had fun and there wasn't any issues. 

It was hot enough that even with being clipped, he got a quick rinse to get the sweat off, and then back out he went. He dried quick and after dark I ended up putting his sheet on, cause it's a hair chilly for a good bit of the night. He'd probably be fine without it, but... oh well. It's on now. ;)