Musings on a Wednesday

     Last week's rides of concentrating on specific items in each ride really paid off for our ride yesterday.  I went in with a plan to work on lengthening and shortening and maybe transitions.  Mort was a touch on the lazy side (it's getting hot again and Mort is not a hot weather horse) but he was relaxed and listening really well.  I only had to give him one pop with the whip toward the beginning of the ride and didn't touch it again.

     He was so on my aids and listening that we definitely did more than just what I had planned and it was still a shorter ride because he was so good.  We worked on trot/halt/trot.  We did a good number of leg yields and played with shoulder-in to half pass (at the walk).  We did some more figure eights sometimes starting or ending in leg yields.  He was just really game to be messed with in all the ways.

     I've noticed lately that I am actually enjoying his left lead canter more than his right.  I always thought this would happen eventually because he has a better stride this direction, and I'm glad that it's starting to since we've been struggling with its balance for so long.  He's more naturally uphill this direction and stays straighter.  Now that we're getting good left lead I need to start focusing more on the right lead again (and counter canter).

     I also noticed last night that sitting trot tracking right is fairly easy for us.  He maintains the bend and can compress and extend as well as when I'm posting.  But, this doesn't hold true when we're tracking left.  We're getting really consistent bend when I'm posting but he doesn't seem to be quite there yet sitting.  His pace and balance are also not as good sitting as posting.  I'm not sure if this is a strength issue from him or a seat issue from me, but either way something good for me to know.  If we're really struggling I can easily start posting and it will most likely solve the issue.  I can make sure to sit for shorter periods of time (both directions so we don't get too uneven) and reward more often for the effort.

     Overall tracking left is really coming along and I couldn't be happier.  I think once that inside leg to outside rein is there consistently making the jump to second level won't be too difficult at all.  I still plan on first level for our show in July and the recognized in October, but maybe some of the fall schooling shows will involve second level (not to get ahead of myself or anything...).  We'll see.  Right now I'm just happy that we've gotten out of our slump and we're both improving again.