Valegro!

Good grief! Things are hopping!! I spent so much time playing yesterday that I still had so much to do tonight before the show Saturday and then leaving to go to the beach. BUT... Kim messaged me while I was at work and said that one of her clients decided to buy the saddle she loaned me after thinking about it for a day and wanted to get it asap. Argh! Originally I was going to be able to keep it and ride in it after we got back from the beach, but.. oh well. So, I made an effort to sneak another ride in today. Luckily we worked it out to where the girl, who is actually somewhat local, is going to come pick it up from the house Sunday. I told Kim that I wouldn't be back from work til after the post office closed today and then had to leave so early for the show and then head back to go straight to the beach, so.. I could ship it from the beach on Monday, or....  And that's when she told me that the girl could come pick it up as she was actually going to be somewhat in my area anyways. So phew! But that means I can't ride in it after the beach, so... we rode in it tonight! Luckily I got home from work early enough to do some of the other things that also desperately needed to be done... like get my pills from Kroger before they closed, put air in my tires as they were SOOOOO low for some reason, and then rehitch the truck. And still had daylight to ride. It was actually more comfortable by then too. 

So we had a quick ride. I was a little rushed and Dan was being a lazy bum getting to the arena. I was trying not to be rushed in my brain and body and let it affect him. And once I got on, I relaxed and was fine. We had a good ride. Hee hee. He made me laugh because he felt GOOD! He was forward and happy and swingy. I was sloppy and still struggling in the saddle a bit. It was definitely better than the first ride but I still can't really sit the trot. I can't decide if it's because I just need to learn how to ride without the big blocks holding me in... and add in the fact that I've been riding in jump stirrups for so long that the longer stirrups are harder again (though they weren't in the county), and also add in that maybe Dan is moving bigger and using his back better.. and I just need to learn how to ride better. OR.. is it that this saddle is not the right saddle for me. Sigh... Which is so frustrating because I would have loved a few more rides in it to see if I can get used to it. But, maybe tomorrow will give me a better idea too. And maybe I can see if I can get Kim to send me a geneva to try. But anyways, it did get a little better as the ride went on. And Dan felt amazing!!! It wasn't quite as good as our lesson with Kim, but pretty darn good. I practiced all the things. We also ran through the test again and he's definitely not falling out of the canter anymore. Yay!

We finished our shortish ride and headed in for a bath and then dinner for him. Mike had ordered pizza so after he ate, I ate, and then I came back out and made up feed for them for the beach week and finished packing for the show. Stay clean buddy!! PLEASE stay clean! I even bribed him by telling him that he was going to show and needed to be clean so he could show off and look extra pretty for his redebut. :)