Lovely lovely lovely

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Temperature dropped to a balmy 21 degrees, the breeze soft and constant. The bugs disappeared! And somewhere in the middle of my ride, as my Q floated into a lovely trot-canter transition and gave me a lofty lope up the trail on the buckle one could hear me exclaim “wow, you are just the best horse ever!” To which Q flicked his ears back at me.

So today was my best ride in weeks. Months maybe. Having not ridden much this week with work and the ridiculous heat wave, I figured it would be a good idea to do a “flight check” in the riding ring before we tackled the trails. In less than 10 minutes we jogged and loped both ways, nice sliding stop and we were good to go. Out on the trails he was soft and relaxed, happy to be directed with the heat of my calf as we jogged through intersections and trail changes. And he gave me a lovely right lead canter depart without too much effort.

It was so beautiful that I pulled out my phone mid jog and grabbed this new scene for the blog.



And then this clip is as we aproach our intersection challenge where Q has started making his own decisions. I thought it would be good to document his progress. Lately he has taken to trotting throuh this intersection so he can bluster his way back home in a speedy fashion. We have had a few training sessions here as a result. And of course we had a 🥵 rough session in the arena last week with lots of cantering and sweaty eyeballs as a result.

Its clear that he still tried to get his way, but was much more responsive to getting the right answer with just a bit of left leg. Win for me.


Speaking of leg, Im still working on removing mine. Certainly Q has enough sensitivity to respond to seat and the heat of my calf. But I move too quickly to using my heel. Its my bad form from riding English for so long. It requires so much personal discipline to be light and gradual in the aids, and for me its still a work in progress. But if I have more rides like today where we can connect and communicate with just the lightest of aids, it motivates me to do more.

Yes, Q, I flicker my ears at you. ❤️

Comments

  1. TeresaAJune 26, 2020 at 9:22 AM

    What a lovely ride. Q is smart and you are consistent so it’s all working

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nat DJune 26, 2020 at 9:23 AM

      I think I am ruined forever. Andalusians ARE different. Teresa, I flick my ears at you too!

      Delete

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