Bareback Dressage

 

So... I rode Dan at home today. And because I'm not sure if his saddle is fitting him, I rode bareback. The other day he had that weird serum-y scab on his right trapezius that he's developed before. And his topline is looking a bit more icky lately, which seems like it correlates with me putting the saddle back on. Of course it could also be because I'm trying to do more riding and thus more dressage and thus ruining him. But... I figured I'd go bareback again for awhile and see if his topline improves. 

 

We had a good ride though! He was pretty happy and I never saw his tongue. We did some turn on the haunches and forehand and leg yielding. And we practiced the half pass again and it's MUCH better when I turn my outside shoulder back. Even if I can't still figure out how to turn my head the right way. Ha ha! We did some trot walk trot transitions and did some lengthens. I even cantered a tiny bit. The right lead canter feels sort of disunted but the left one was better. We also popped over two cross rails. Because... well, because. 

 

He felt nice today! Rather jaunty and correct mostly. However he does feel like he's dragging that right front more and he suddenly looks more atrophied. I wonder if the shoulder injections aggravated things. Although with Lyric, it took a little longer than I expected to kick in. (Like... 5-7 days vs 1-3 days). So maybe he just needs another few days. 

 

We hacked home and trotted in the field and he was quite nice there too! Good pony! I really do wish I could show him bareback. He's so nice bareback! 

 

 I love how he sleeps!! He's so freakin' cute!