Tonight was a very easy going night at the barn. Thinking it was going to be a solo ride, I was pleasantly surprised to see several folks still riding.
Max was really sleepy and sluggish. Not saying he wasn't responding to my aids, but he was goopier and calmer than usual. It was a nice change from his twitchy jumpy self so I was happy.
We had a nice long warm-up. Long stretchy walk and trot, and then a few canters around the arena to open up. It took longer than I thought and I had a few brief moments of panic when I saw him kind of bobby going right.
But after about twenty minutes or so of warming up (yes it took that long) he started to feel steady and would move forward into the bit (surprise surprise!).
We ended on a very very lovely controlled canter around the arena, with an amazingly smooth transition to trot. Oh! If only all our transitions could feel this way!
Then it was time to just plop around and cool down while chatting to my new friend.
Heading out there again tomorrow as I hear there is going to be a group jumping lesson! I'm hoping to ride and audit at the same time, and if possible squeeze in a private (since it would be the first time with this instructor).
We'll see what happens!
i love that feeling when they just *step* into trot from canter! never really happens for me but... well, we can hope! also i hope you like this new instructor and manage to sneak in a ride!
ReplyDeleteI hear ya! It is a very rare occasion for us ...but when it happens I savor it!
DeleteUnfortunately she didn't have time for another lesson as it was getting late, but I booked one for next week!