A Riding Lesson

I had a great lesson with Peter today, though I almost flaked on it because I'm sick (again) after all my time on the road.

I'm really glad I didn't because it was a really good session and Bar was as well-behaved as he's ever been. We worked at the walk a bit, and then a lot at the trot. I even got the trot down to a sit-able rate - my instructions were to tuck my pockets under and lean back - though smooth is not the word that comes to mind. Posting is definitely better for the most part.

We worked a lot on my position and anticipating Bar's reactions to other things going on in the arena. I even managed to keep him on a nice circle without too much trouble. Steve took lots of pictures, too many to post, but they help me see what I have to work on. Relaxing would be number one, but that's my constant challenge. I can pick out all the things I'm doing wrong in every picture, but the good thing is I'm up there, riding this difficult horse, and getting him to do what I want. Most of the time, anyway. My form may not be perfect - far from it, actually - but at least I'm out there working on it and enjoying time with my four-legged instructor. (Could my toes be pointed out any further? It's really doubtful.) But I digress.



I finished out the workout by trotting a figure-eight with him, keeping that outside shoulder in whichever way we were going and keeping his focus on me and what we were up to, rather than whatever else was going on in the arena. He did great and I gave him lots of pets and strokes for all his hard work. Oh, and some carrots of course.