Back to Normal :)

I FINALLY played with Lady today.  Really played with her, on the 22’ Line, all over the arena!  :D  She was her usual self, just the same as I remember her being… mild LBE with a touch of RBI. 

I started her off with refreshing the first four games.  Friendly was good… Porcupine was a bit sticky, but no more than usual, Driving was good and Yo-Yo was good, so I went on with my plan of doing circles.  We did travelling circles each way with me walking twice around the entire arena.  She trotted most of the time and looked pretty good (left was a lot better than right, but still…) and I very gently asked for a canter, which (!!!!)  she gave to me.  To the left it was great; she started off on the wrong lead but after about half a lap, she switched over the correct one and tucked her head neatly.  :)  With the way she has been sore and stiff (and still is) she impressed me a lot!  To the right she was definitely more hesitant and broke back down to the trot quite a few times, but she tried SO hard.  I am starting to wonder about her naughty bucks though… because they showed up while going to the right… hmm…  :)

I went on and asked for Figure-8s and here is where I learned something!  Her turns around the barrels weren’t doing so well; she kept stopping and facing me and I would have to send her off again.  I finally figured it out after about ten revolutions and changed my approach accordingly!  I let her go around the barrel and moved back to draw her towards me… and only then did I send her on around the barrel.  Success!!!  Everything instantly went much smoother and she was visibly much more happy :D

At this point, she felt pretty solid and calm, so I decided to go ahead and get on…. And just that thought made me so happy!!  I changed out the 22’ Line for my Finesse Reins, checked lateral flexion from the ground and got on, yay!!!  All I had in mind to do was walk around the arena once and then get off.  Lateral flexion while mounted was pretty good, to the left she kept her feet still but to the right she went in a circle. 

All went fairly well during the whole ride.  She broke into a trot twice, but I managed it calmly, used my one rein stop and once she was relaxed we went on.  No explosions.

I got off and gave her a hug!  The end… and it was awesome!! :D

Savvy on!

-Kit