Friday! Happy Valentine's Day!

Friday Valentine’s Day! 

Lots of good things today!!! Wendy and I had a good school and worked on some of the exercises from our lesson with Catherine yesterday early in the morning. She and I have a slight tendency to lose our alignment in the changes - which results in a larger change in one direction and then a loss of straightness...so it was a great opportunity to be out in the large grass area and pick a distant tree on the horizon and ride uphill with good energy before asking for the change! Everything improved nicely and then we had plenty of power and good push from the hind legs. 

She is a very fun horse to work with as her mouth is uncomplicated, she is easy to sit and her responses are clear and uncomplicated - which means I have the opportunity to work on ME! while we practice and work on the exercises! Love little Wendy! Such a joy to ride each day as she is so similar to Waldaire and I do miss the big guy. 

Wyatt had a spectacular lesson with Catherine today. Things were a bit hectic when I warmed him up, so I worked on the things that I would have at home had it been a day of “just us” with no lesson quickly approaching...and it was a super warm up. The connection between leg and seat up into the bridle is fabulous now that Catherine has gotten my knees to stop blocking the energy out of the hindquarters! So light in the bridle, easy in the neck and jaw...just a joy! So when she was able to come to the arena, it was Game ON! Medium trots, transitions within the trot itself, ditto in the canter - always trying to keep the energy uphill and balanced without losing the self carriage. Then it was onto our pirouettes! The left one has been a bit of a challenge but today we had great timing, super collection and kept our rhythm with no mistakes. It was as good as the right and The Boss was very pleased with the improvements! 

Since I have been here at Catherine’s stable, she has been extremely generous and allowed me to watch other students and her own horses training. It has paid off in spades as I am a visual learner! It was fantastic to allow my mind and body to use the timing and aids as I have been “stealing with my eyes” (to quote The Boss) on Wyatt. He was flat out amazing!!! Catherine was pleased. I am ecstatic! It is has been quite some time since I was able to allow the horse to do things and not be “making” things happen. Our changes were fantastically balanced and straight by the end of the lesson. 

So tomorrow I am allowed to go to a clinic that Catherine is participating in - with my camera in hand! So expect lots of photos and some thoughts on the day late evening tomorrow!