Tougher Than I Let On

In the theme of riding like a seven year old, I actually showed up for my Monday night lesson rather than heading home after work and nursing my extreme horse show hangover.

Midge warmed up as I thought she might, which was tired and stiff feeling. Poor pony. However, we all know moving around a little is the best thing for it, so onwards we went. Surprisingly,  Midge got better and better, to the point where we had one of our best rides ever.
Our entire ride was just about suppling and loosening those tired muscles, mine as well as Bridget's! So, walk spirals to shoulder in, changing the bend repeatedly down the long sides, then repeat in trot. Finally, back to shoulder in at walk, then transition up to canter. That's tricky to the right for Bridget, who would rather twist and fake it than really push off with her right hind (seriously, bendy pony is sometimes a mystery to me...in what world is it easier to canter around in an S shape than a nice arc? ) We got it sorted with minimal fuss, then moved on to keeping our shoulder in position while also spiraling in. And, viola, our first legit collected canter for a few strides. I'm in awe of how generous this pony is.

"Build me some more jumps already!"

Wednesday night, I returned again for another dressage lesson. I was pleased to notice smart little pony thought about what we'd learned earlier in the week. Shoulder in was no big deal, but when we changed the bend to renvers poor little pony had her mind blown and lost track of her feet :)

Moving forward, that will be my homework. At a walk for now, a step or two here or there, no rush, no big deal, let her figure it out. We do need to practice because some day in the future counter canter will be a thing :) The more collected canter from Monday night is also my homework. Use 10m circles and/or spirals and/or shoulder in to help find it/weight the inside hind, tell her how amazing she is, then bring her back before she loses her balance.

Further planning - EC wants me to ride with her dressage coach to check in about our bigger picture plan moving forward. Her coach is amazing, and honestly I am flattered she thinks we are at a stage/have enough potential where we could benefit from such input and planning for our "big" goals.

I have no idea why the universe gave me such a great pony when all I was really shopping for was a confidence boosting trail buddy, but believe me, I am grateful every day for my midget wonder pony.

In virtual travel news, look how far we've gone!