Fun day!!
And kind of chilly! Which was a nice bonus. I was expecting humidity to the max but while it was humid, it was more clammy and chilly than muggy. There was a nice breeze too.. a cool breeze, like a storms a brewin' breeze. But no rain today, so yay! We've had enough that I was grateful to not have it today. Anyways... I wore my Fleck shirt! The one that I had made with his sunset photo on it. And it's such a cool shirt...even if it doesn't really match anything. And I rode all three horses today, so it was kind of cool that Fleck joined us for all three rides. ;) Ha ha. Not really... I do need to make myself a hat band or something so he really can ride with us.
Anyways... today was lesson with Kelly Eaton day. I opted to take Dan first because I wanted to hack Lyric after and felt like she needed a longer hack than Dan. And I was hoping to get there early enough to do a little hack with Dan too. Which I did. We were able to hack around the small lake and then head to the arenas. I told Kelly where we were at and my concerns.. basically that I needed "more bend" and was worried about his posture and him not using himself correctly - whether it's saddle fit or just.. the work in general. We had done a tiny bit of leg yielding before my lesson started as she was finishing up with Caroline, so she had us pick up the trot to see what we had. And then we went back to "shock and awe" to get him moving off my inside leg. BUT... it didn't take much shock and awe. :) He was actually quite good. He's so freakin' smart. I swear.. he kind of cheats. Ha ha.
So, we had halted and she had me very lightly tap him with my right leg, slightly back. He should step his right hind over. And he did. It took a few tries to get him more prompt and I had to use the whip to remind him once or twice, but.. .in general, he was pretty anticipatory. So then we did it at the walk and then at the trot. I have to make sure I'm timing it right... when the outside fore comes forward, that's what I ask, because that's when he's lifting up the inside hind. I *know* this, but I think sometimes I get sloppy and don't make my aids clean. So I need to consistently ask very softly and not keep getting louder and I need to make sure my timing is right. And when I did that, he was actually quite nice. And quite bent in the trot even.
So then we went the other way and he was actually worse with the left hind. Interesting! Ha ha. A nice pat on the back for me... way to rehab that right hind Holly. Ha ha! We did the same thing tracking left and got some nice bend too. And he was soft and forward and quiet in his mouth.
We also did some leg yield on the rail to help him engage the hind end and use his core. At the walk. It also gets him more even in both reins. She did tell me that I do need to keep the contact, especially with the outside rein, even in the bosal. Don't throw him away.
We finished up and she mentioned that he had a few bobbly steps here and there, but more so in the beginning and not really at all towards the end. She didn't see anything worrisome and said that basically if he needs to warm up out of his discomfort, so be it. He's 15 and has had a lot of trauma! Poor guy. But she also said that she didn't see anything else and thought he looked mostly symmetrical and happy. He was soft in his mouth and seemed to be enjoying himself. Yay! She did say that she saw the neck muscling that I saw and agreed it wasn't great but that he was using himself nicely, so... give it time. So, maybe it isn't the saddle or too much work in general. Maybe it's just... getting back into work and compensating and me not being as balanced in the saddle myself. We'll give it time. As long as he seems happy, which he does. Mostly. And he tells me when he's not, so.. as long as I listen, we will hopefully make progress. I did mention that I wondered if some of it is from him throwing himself up into the canter with his head, vs pushing with his hind end. But we had run out of time, so.. she told me to try the leg yield on the rail, then turn for inside bend and canter and see if that helped. So we'll try that next time I ride.
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