Thursday 26 April 2012

Lesson #7

My old trainer T is leaving soon for Vancouver and has been getting really busy with her new students at her current barn so it has been getting harder and ahrder to get in to have a lesson with her at my barn which is partially why i had switched to my new trainer M, i still wanted more than anything to have T out to see how much progress we have made and i finally got that on Tuesday night.

G was on his best behaviour it took very little time at the mounting block for me to get on which was nice. So we started our warm up going around the arena in both directions doing little circles at each letter after we did this both ways we started the lesson.

T has always pushed me because she knows what i can do and as my best friend she knows that i hold back sometimes that i let my fear get a hold of me, she doesnt allow me to do that she will push me and push me until i get annoyed and i just do it, she knows how to motivate me and push me past everything and i love her to death for it.

She set up cones in the arena and wanted to work with me on a 20m circle, for some reason i am HORRIBLE with distances so it was something that we needed to start working on if i am hoping to be able to do a few training or intro shows at the end of this summer. So we started working on a circle and T was trying to teach me that on a circle i should be using my inside leg to push G's hind end over and my outside leg and rein to prevent his shoulder from bulging out and the inside rein should be lose aparently this will give him a nice bend in his chest... wtf? for some reason at a walk i couldnt grasp this concept i still cant i know with time it will become habit and i will rely less and less on my inside rein but im still sitting here writing this being like uggghhhh? At the Trot we were for the most part able to do what she was asking which was make the circle bigger and smaller using this technique but she still had to keep reminding me to give away the inside rein.

We did about another 10 minutes at a posting trot changing directions and asking for circles. Then as T always does she wanted to challenge me and asked if we had cantered yet... i told her no and gave her a bunch of excuses about how we were waiting till we were really comfortable in the posting trot and had more control.... blah...blah...blah yeah she didnt buy it she gave me a look like i was crazy and said point blank "im not going to push you but i think you guys are more than ready to canter" i knew she was right and i was holding back because of my fear that is still there down in the pit of my stomach, but i trust G and new that no matter how crazy it was he would not try to hurt me or put me in danger so we went for it.

We went counter clock wise and it was beautiful his canter is so smooth his transition was quick, there was no fast trot or anything like that he opened right up into a canter (my transitions still suck going back down in the gaits) when it came to slowing him down it was a little clumsy but we survived and made it to a walk (he didnt pick up the right lead btw). I figured that was GREAT lets try the other side, disaster, i dont know what happened but i lost my stirrup and was bouncing all over the place trying to keep myself on... but i did realise at that point... i could probably ride a trot without stirrups because i didnt fall off instead of completely panicking like i would have previously i wrappped my legs around my horse and tried to keep my shoulders back and not collapse into his neck... i wish i had a video of it... because even though it was a disaster i did REALLY good at NOT falling off lol.

I think we are going to wait to canter until i can get him to slow down by using my seat lol but all in all it was a great lesson i have some stuff to work on definatly but i am getting a lot more consistant in my riding and in the work that i am doing. Hopefully this weekend i can get Alex out to take some videos of my riding... maybe then i will post a comparision video that i have been hiding on my computer lol..

Happy trails everyone!

Finally a round pen-Videos

Finally the round pen is cleared up enough that we can use it. I got a picture and a few videos, they are not very good but i am trying to get more video proof of how amazing he is.


mom i love the round pen


Im sure you can hear me saying stuff lol sorry i had my headphone on and didnt realise my phone caught sound lmao!

Monday 23 April 2012

Lesson #6

I finally managed to connect again with my new trainer yesterday to have another lesson. We are making amazing progress I couldn’t help but have a huge smile on my face the entire lesson.
We usually only have 30 minute lessons because both G and I needed to work on our physical fitness but yesterday we pushed past the 30 minute wall he has to 45 minutes of good hard work. As usual we started out at a walk working on half halts using my seat and bending to the left and to the right. Since having his teeth done he is bending much better to the right than before but he still fights me in that direction.
We spent the majority of the lesson at a trot, working in both directions. We have picked up the posting trot so quickly M was surprised so we moved into working on our walk trot transitions. The biggest issue at the trot currently is going to the right, doing a circle to the right when we come towards the wall on the one side of the arena he would try to go left instead of going to the right, the first couple tries resulted in a half circle left so I can get him back going right, it took some testing each time we came to that spot but I finally found (or some what grasped the concept of) in that direction my reins and inside leg are not enough to get him around that corner I need to alternate between my inside and my outside leg to keep him from trying to change direction and to have a better circle. By the end of the lesson we were doing much better in that direction but it is something we will have to tackle every lesson and every ride to find out the right amount of pressure so I do not have to use my legs at all.
I also need to focus on my chin up, as soon as I put my chin up my posture becomes much better and G slows down his trot a little so I will be practicing that during my rides as well, apparently it doesn’t look as silly as it feels.
We also worked as I mentioned on my walk trot and trot walk transitions which I have not mastered as well as I had thought. They are defiantly not as smooth and fluent as I had wanted them to be the walk – trot is fairly good since G is very responsive to pressure I just need to remember to use my calves more and less of my heel, I tend to bring my heels up when squeezing. My trot – walk transition is far worse, I am struggling to keep my butt in the seat when I am asking for the transition I tend to bounce around and it takes about 30 seconds for G to go into a walk, I know this will come with time and I shouldn’t focus on it to much since we are both fairly green and are learning what works for each of us but tonight’s ride will be a lot of trot – walk transitions.
Alex had come out to watch my lesson, it was nice having him there, as soon as I can afford a camera I will have him start making some videos of my riding so there is more to look at on here.  It was +20C at the barn yesterday so we took G for a walk to cool him off since he was fairly sweaty and found a nice patch were we could sit on some old logs and let G eat some grass it was so quiet and peaceful which is just what I needed. Working 2 jobs is really starting to burn me out and it has only been 3 weeks I don’t think I will be able to keep this up to much longer but thankfully pretty quick I will have a bunch of my little debt all paid off.
I might have a lesson with my old Trainer T next weekend if I’m lucky I might be able to get in 2 lessons next weekend. I really want to show T how far I have come and how much she has helped me get past all my fears especially since soon she will be moving to Vancouver. Anyways I’m at work and should probably help some clients, have a great  week everyone.

Saturday 21 April 2012

Mine All Mine

Checked my bank account this morning... i got my tax refund and i finally have enough money to pay off what is oustanding on Gjonstone. Within a week he will be mine all mine!! We have already started the process of changing his registration over to my name as well as his microchip. No more horse payments woo!!

Wednesday 18 April 2012

Dentist Day, Angry Vet Rant

Today we had the Equine Dentist out to do a few horses. I put G's name down on the list because i was curious to see if his teeth were maybe the cause of the stiffness to the right and the head tossing. In Canada an Equine Dentist is no longer allowed to sedate unless they have special training to do so, silly considering most have more experience with sedating that some Vets do. Anyways out Equine Dentist teaches at the school of Equine Dentistry (trying to see how many times i can type that in a paragraph apparently lol) and has been specially trained to give sedatives, and comes highly reccomended by other boarders so i chose to have him do his teeth opposed to the Vet.

G was panicking in his stall all morning he could hear the drill and wanted nothing to do with it. He stood great while being sedated the only bad thing he did other than his usual head tossing was try to "sack" the dentist, this i found slightly funny but the dentist did not. Upon purchasing G i was informed that he had had his teeth done but im not sure how long ago that was because his teeth were terrible they were extremely sharp and the Dentist was able to tell me that bending right was his issue i was quite impressed. G stood very well for him while he balanced and floated his teeth, G has 2 out of 4 of his canines in and we got a good example of just how sharp those teeth were when G accidently bit through his lip, Dentist was VERY impressed that G went backwards respecting our space instead of forward and complimented him on how good he was.

His teeth look so much better now and the Dentist was fantastic he took the time to explain everything to me he even showed me before and after the jaw movement from side to side. G is going to spend the day in his stall eating and relaxing before i put him out tonight. Dentist did however as me that when i ride him next to work to the right at a walk and a trot then halt and ask him to bend to the right and when he does ask to bend to the left and see how it feels he should be more responsive now in both directions. Im glad that i was able to get his teeth done i feel so bad i would have had a dentist out much sooner had i known that bad shape they were in, i would toss my head and be pushy with my face too if it was painful to eat, Im sure ill see G put on some weight now as well since eating will be more comfortable. The dentist even showed me how to confirm G's age and what to expect from his teeth the next few years. I highly reccomend a Dentist over a Vet! Oh, and the teeth i thought were wolf teeth... turns out they are canines lol oops!!

Anyways, now to the angry Vet post. Last week we had A vet out to do the shots, it was not my Vet but i figured its just vaccinations and sheath cleaning, pretty simple stuff this vet and her techs should be able to handle that. Once the dentist finished up he asked me when G's sheath was done last i informed him last week and he just looked at me and asked if i was ok with him checking to make sure, i of course said sure but i figured he would find nothing since it was suppose to be done last week. I was wrong there was 3 HUGE beans there is no way his sheath was done last week, i was heart broken i didnt even think to check, it was so embarassing. Had the dentist not checked G would have gone a few months without it being done and i would have never even thought to check. I am livid... the Vet will be recieving an unhappy call from me and she had better not expect me to pay for that since she did NOT do it. Looks like from not on i will be cleaning his sheath at least then i know its done!

Monday 16 April 2012

As Luck would have it!


I am so lucky to be with someone who knows how passionate i am about horses, a man that is willing to be on the back burner right now while i work 2 jobs ride and be a mother because he knows that i am trying to provide the best that i can given the circumstances. My second job is going great i will have all my bills caught up even the Vet bills for this month by the end of next month which makes me really happy. It is a step in the right direction thats for sure.

Back on track, i have changed my riding days to Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights since the remainder of the week i work job #2 at night. I cant go in the evening because that is time with my son i am just not willing to lose. So i sneak away to the barn when he is fast asleep, im lucky in the summer because that means catching my horse with some daylight left to easily find him.

Finding him easily is nice but right now our entire lower half of the pasture by the gate is 6 inches of much that you have to navigate through and my princess of a horse HATES having to walk through it so he will either stop or try to find a better way than the one i am taking.

I was covered in mud when i got back in from the feild, i didnt want to put muddy pants inside my riding boots, luckly i worse some cowboy boots out to the barn. I lunged G quickly with all his tack on something i do not usually do, he had a few bucks to throw in just to point out how much he hates being lunged with his tack. I also tried using a saddle pad as well as a fleece half pad because G doesnt have a lot of muscle built up on his top line i find my saddle does not sit flat on his back when i am not in it so i figured adding some extra padding would help while riding make sure that the saddle doesnt bounce on the back of his back while in a trot. Hard to tell if it helped or not but i did get a nice relaxed trot out of him. When i have a bit more money saved up or my current saddle becomes a problem i will have a saddle fitter out to check the fit to make sure we can prevent as many future injuries as possible.

We started our ride out at the walk doing circles at every letter in the arena in both directions he is much more flexible to the left than he is to the right. When it was time to change direction we would trot accross the diagonal and i would have to fight G somewhat to keep him from cutting the line i was asking for short and returning to the rail quicker than i wanted him too. We picked up the trot and had some great forward trot around the arena counter clockwise until he heard something that made him have a bit of a meltdown in the scary corner of the arena so i ended up cutting the arena short and only working on the trot on the one end.

To get his attention back on me we worked on half halts, i would ask for a quicker walk with my legs then ask for a slower walk with me seat it felt amazing to see how quickly he responds to the cues. Halting on the other hand is not our strong suit, i will as for the halt and he will stop for a second then start trying to walk off, i would try to put him back where i had asked him to halt and that would result in him tossing his head and swishing his tail. I know persistance will beat this so once i got a decent enough halt to call it progress we moved on from that.

I used my left rein to gently pull his nose towards my boot on the left side.. no problem he even had a second to nibble on my boot thats how easy it was. I tried to repeat to the right and it resulted in him backing and more tail swishing he wouldnt give me any bend at all to the right, that is something im not so sure how to fix i guess working a little more to the right and practice will get some results.

Anyways this post has rambled on for long enough, at least i added a picture at the begining this time, I wont be able to get out to ride tonight since i have an orientation with work. But our ride last night was only 30 minutes and i feel like i have accomplished a lot we did more work at a trot than i have ever done with him and we are only going to go up from here... Im going to look at some dressage tests today and see how possible it is we get to go to a show this summer <3 fingers crossed!

Saturday 14 April 2012

Why i could not be a jumper (another video)


Is it just me or at the begining of this video does the horse not look like he is on Stilts my goodess that horse is tall!!! Anyways i could not be a jumper because even watching this video when the horses head comes out of view my heart leaps out of my chest as i prepare myself for the worst an unimaginable fall, then you see his ears come back up and they carry on. I couldnt even watch the entire video!!

Enjoy!

(yes yes i am at work today bored out of my tree finding interesting videos on facebook <3)

Awesome Youtube Video

Its amazing what technology will catch on tape!! this lady is using a Girth cam to record her jumping... the first 50 seconds or so are boring but the rest you will wish was in 3D!!

Vet Day

Today is Vet day at the barn and my poor boy is not going to be a happy camper... I woke up to snow outside again... lovely.

I went out to catch G to find him covered head to toe in mud, but he had to come in because the Vet is out today to vaccinate all of the horses.

G will be getting his 5 way, West Nile, and Strangles vaccination as well as having his sheath cleaned. I left him inside with fresh shavings, water, beet pulp, and some hay to try to make up for the long day he is going to have.

I need some horse therapy and will be out tonight to see him and spend some much needed time with him.

Thursday 12 April 2012

To Shoe or not to Shoe

That is the question i am contemplating. G was extremely sensitive on the rocks when we went for our hack the other day, given the situation my ferrier is recommending it if i am planning on doing a lot of rides outside with him this summer. I was planning on having them done next year for competition but it appears i may need to do it sooner.

I have been doing a lot of reading about shoeing vs not and the benefits of using those weird looking boot things... I was hopeing you guys might have some insight on this.

Should i shoe all 4 or just the 2 front that he seems most sensitive on?
Should i not shoe and stay away from rocky trails?

None of the horses at the barn get shoes on... except the Mounted Troop Horses who have shoes on all 4 during the show season....

Lots to think about....

Wednesday 11 April 2012

Wordless Wednesday

"Hi mom can i go outside now pretty pleasseee"


Needs a coat of stain and maybe some paint

So much extra room i clearly do not own enough horse stuff!

**Sorry for the poor quality pictures i am still trying to get my camera back from my ex husband**

Attempting to Hack Alone

Yesterday i went out to the barn, the weather man promised me +11 C and i was going to take full advantage of that, i still have to clean out the paddocks that G was in during his Quarantine, figured i could get that done since it was my only day off this week.

I got out to the barn and sure it was +11 but with the windchill it was more like -11C, either way i tried to clean out the paddocks with no luck because the wind just kept blowing the straw out of my wheelbarrel. So i gave up on that and went out to catch my muddy horse and get him all cleaned up so i could check his leg and his hoof to make sure it wasnt warm or swollen and their was no damage to his hoof on his left hind leg.

He was pretty antsy due to the wind blowing everything in the barn around and he could see from the crossties outside where the LDSH Mounted Troop was getting ready to walk their horses out after their ride so i figured it would be easier to tack him up in his stall.

Since the arena is in use Monday - Friday from 8AM - 4PM i figured that i would teach G to stand at different types of mounting objects so the possibility of going for a hack was much higher. We have only gone on the trails once because outside i need someone to hold G so i can get on him other wise he prances around looking terrified like this is it the end of the world.

So we started off with the picnic table which is the main source of mounting outside. I say the main source because i do not like mounting a 16hh horse from the ground mostly because i dont see how that could be good for their muscles i could only imagine how uncomfortable that is so i only do it if it is necisary (my spelling is attrocious i tried that word like 4x and still couldnt make it look right) as in i had to do an emergency dismount and their is nothing to use to mount. My logic may not be correct but its something that i cant get past so i just use something to mount when it is an option.

At first G wouldnt even stand next to the picnic table he would swing his hind end out and away from in while looking at me all panicked after about 15 minutes of that i grabbed the riding crop and used it to just put pressure on his hind end and leg to push him over which worked to get him to stand next to the table but not to stand still. Eventually he calmed down and i was able to have him stand still long enough to mount.

We started out walking towards the road because i didnt want him walking on the gravel road but that was to much for him to handle he was so tense walking this way so we turned around and went down the fence line with all the geldings and the mares he was a lot less tense this way until we got to the hay shed which has tin siding and roofing. The noise of the tin was really stressing him out and i was not wanting to fight him passed it mostly for safety concerns i was out riding by myself on a very green horse around scarey objects so I asked him to turn back towards the barn and dismounted and called it quits for the day.

I did notice however how extremely sensitive G was to the rocks on the gravel road, if i am wanting to do some trail riding this summer with him i may have to look at getting him shoes for the summer. We will see how it plays out.

On a plus note i am filing my taxes this weekend and it appears that i will be getting more than enough back to pay G off! So he will be officially mine all mine i cannot wait!! I also got my tack box last night, and was able to unpack all my stuff at the barn so i am no longer carting it around in my car. It would appear things are looking WWAAYYY up lets hope they stay that way!

Monday 9 April 2012

Sunday Night Ride- Not 100%

I started working my second job on thursday so i have been struggling to get out to  the barn to see and ride my horse. It sucks i have to stay up really late to go out after my son is in bed so i have not been getting much sleep lately. Sundays are nice because i only work one job that day and the evening is mine to spend with my family.

I am very lucky with the guy i am with now, he knows how important riding is to me and encourages me to go to the barn and ride that he will watch my son while im gone. I still usually wait until my little guy is in bed before sneaking off to do some riding, but sundays i have been lucky lately and have been joined at the barn by my son and boyfriend.

G was easy to catch and bring in he even let me clean his feet with no hassell, he still is not picking them up for me and makes me do that but i am assuming that will come with time. After my son and i brushed all the mud off of G we went into the arena to lunge. It took my 5 seconds to notice something was off with G he seemed either stiff or sore it was hard to tell on the lunge but he was definatly favoring his left hind leg. It couldnt be that bad because he was walking fine on it from the paddock to the barn and the barn to the indoor. Currently our paddocks are all mud which is lovely for the horses to try and get through.

I lunged him both ways and it was the same thing he was favoring the left hind, in the trot he would shorten the stride but in a canter he would try to not put the foot down. I spent very little time lunging him then took a look at his legs and feet both looked fine there was no puffyness no scratches and he let me put pressure all over the end without showing any signs of discomfort, i was baffled and hoping it was just stiffness.

I saddled him up with the intentions of seeing how he felt, if he felt off at all we would not ride and he would go in his stall for the night to rest. Under saddle he felt fine we did circles, pushed into the scary corners of the arena and nothing he was perfectly fine. So we picked up a trot which again felt good he didnt seem to be favoring the leg at the trot at this point so we kept going. M came into the arena while i was riding and i told her my concern and she said from the ground he looked fine so we did a bit more trot work.

Our trot is coming along really nicely its getting very even and not as quick now that i am trying to focus on not leaning forward while posting. We are still working on building his mucles and both of our endurance so we did not ride at the trot for long, 3x each direction around the arena was more than enough to make G all sweaty.

I kept him in last night, and this morning when i went out and put him out he was fine so im thinking he was just a little stiff and being a baby about it but im going to keep an eye on it, i will most likely be heading out to the barn tonight and will do a little lunging and see how he is feeling then. Fingers crossed its just stiffness.

Saturday 7 April 2012

Lesson #5

Another lesson, finally I feel like I am back to making progress. I had my lesson with a full arena so there was a lot going on for a young horse like G.
We worked on circles again at the scary side of the arena since the other half was in use for another lesson. The ride felt fantastic he was very responsive to my aids I could have thrown away my reins and still been able to get the response I was looking for. He was great other than the tail swishing when ever another horse came close by, we even had consistent even contact a lot of the lesson he was stretching down into the bit.
Previously I was riding in a snaffle that was fairly thin which (I believe) was causing him to toss his head anytime there was contact in his mouth, so my old trainer T came over the other night with a slightly thicker snaffle for me to try out before I went out and bought another bit, it worked fantastic he played with the bit a little and there was very little head tossing when ever I had contact with his mouth. I say very little because he did toss his head one or two times during the lesson, I am having an equine dentist take a look at his teeth next week or the week after to possibly pull a few teeth and float them, I’m hoping that will put an end to the head tossing.
We did a bit more work at the trot in both directions, M had me lean back further while posting because I guess my leaning forward was causing him to speed up and throwing off his center of balance. So I played around with my positioning and it was AMAZING the difference it made when I was posting in the correct position, after only a few minutes I was actually tired so I know it was the proper way to do things. I am hoping that I have tomorrow off from job #2 so I can sleep in and go out to ride tomorrow and practice our trot.
G and I are really finding what works for us, he even picks his feet up (I’m sure I’m going to regret posting this) when I tap or put a little pressure on his leg. We are working on the standing still at the mounting block and in the halt when I ask him. If he is tired or we have worked for a bit already he will stand for ages patiently waiting but at the beginning of the ride he cannot comprehend the idea of standing still.
If we can get our walk trot down we could go to a few training shows this year, I’m keeping my fingers crossed! I’m going to try to get some pictures to post on here because my blog is very boring hopefully by Wednesday I will have some or a video of lunging or riding. Anyways I need to get to work I have to work at both jobs today so I best get to it, I still need to add a few posts to my other blog be sure to check it out the link is on the top of the page.

Thursday 5 April 2012

Not a Happy Camper!

Yesterday it was +14C sunny and beautiful outside but because i am in Alberta that does not mean Spring is here because later that night a winter snow fall warning was issued so i figured i would head out to the barn to bring G in for the night.

I got our there and i knew instantly it was going to be interesting trying to catch him because as soon as he saw my car he started walking away, when i got into the pasture with his halter he started running away all over the place. It took me 20 minutes of trying to stay calm walking after him before he stopped long enough for me to get to him. I tried to lightly toss the lead line over his neck so he would not be able to run away from me once i tried putting the halter on him which did not work because he bolted so it was another 10 minutes of patiently following him around the pasture in the dark trying to catch him. He eventually got bored of the game and let me catch him it took everything in my person to not get angry with him.

I measured him tonight as well with my fancy measuring ribbon i bought he is about 16.3hh currently when i bought him i believe he was 16hh. I think im doing the weight part wrong so i will have to reference Youtube for that later.

When i woke up this morning i woke up to 2 feet of snow it took me an hour to get to the barn (which is usually a 15 minute drive) there were cars in the ditch everywhere you looked. So G is staying inside today at least until the snow stops, im sure he is NOT happy with the decision but to bad all i need is him to hurt himself out in the snow.

I made it to work safe and sound then got stuck in the parking lot so i am hoping that it warms up and melts a bit after work so i can get my car out.

Lesson #5 Tomorrow :) be sure to check back for it!

Monday 2 April 2012

Lesson #4 New Beginings

This weekend was really busy so I didn’t get out as much as I would have liked to work with G. Sunday I started taking lessons with a new trainer who is located right at my barn, she has never competed dressage but has ridden her entire life and has started her young horse in dressage and I loved her teaching style when I sat in on a lesson she was having.
The first lesson was just seeing where G and I where so she can come up with a plan on what we need to progress. I am not going to compete this year due to lack of money and time, I had an interview yesterday for a second job at a restaurant and I got the job so now I am just waiting to find out when I start, so we will wait until next year to compete and spend this year taking lessons and getting ready to compete as much as we can next year.
Before the lesson I got out to the barn early because for the past week it has been 10C but Sunday morning we woke up to a cruel April Fools joke, 3 inches of snow, so I knew that the herd was most likely going crazy due to the drastic change in weather and the introduction of a new gelding. So after about 5 minutes of walking after my horse as he runs away from me he decided to stand still long enough that I could get the lead rope over his neck and keep him still enough to halter. I was expecting lunging to be equally as crazy so I spent about 15 minutes with our lunging and nothing he was nice calm and relaxed.
Of course working with a new trainer G did not want to stand at the mounting block so I was a littler flustered trying to get him to stand still long enough for me to get on and my trainer M just looked at me and said “take your time get him to were you want him to be, I’m in no rush” I was immediately able to calm down and quickly get him to stand still and get on.
We started out at the walk working on some half-halts… which clearly I didn’t TRULY understand until that lesson I was able to feel him change his gait with me tightening my core and shifting my pelvis. M really helped to enforce in my mind that trot is good but you will never have complete control in a trot unless you have complete control at a walk. We did lots of exercised to work on suppleness and lots of change of directions.
She asked me to pick up a trot to see where I was since my walk was really good I had a lot of control and G was extremely responsive to my seat aids. The trot was not as pretty as I was hoping for it to be, I was leaning forward to much and I guess I was on the wrong lead (I had heard this before but I couldn’t remember how to figure out the right and wrong lead, turns out when the front leg closest to the wall is forward I should be up). We just did about 30 seconds at the trot on both sides so I could show her were we were at then we went back to a walk.
I cant wait to take lessons consistently again, G felt great during the lesson, a little stiff going to the left but other than that he was great nice and relaxed and forward. G naturally collects which is amazing I hadn’t really been able to feel it until yesterday maybe I was stressing about everything else I couldn’t feel what he was trying to give me, He even took contact with the bit a few times, his muscles are not developed enough to hold it and I am not experienced enough to help him keep it but we will get there.
It was a great lesson even if It was only 30 minutes I feel like I learned a lot and I cannot wait until my next lesson. She charges me a barn rate of $20 a lesson (amazing right!) so I will hopefully be starting 2 lessons a week soon with her and 1 lesson a month with Wendy Clarke (competed PSG) since I can afford it now with this second job.
Oh and my trainer is selling me her old tack box so no more keeping my tack in my car so it can get dirty and wrecked. Alex will be happy too I have some saddle pads and blankets that are stinking up our new house!