Please Ma'am- I Want Some More

Since Carmen and I have come home our rides are going so well.  The last two ones I walked her up and hopped on. I did not need to lunge or work her 'through' anything.

I think we have an understanding of each other. I am fine with her worrying but the listening is non-negotiable. She is still not above spooking when she feels that she has done enough work. I'm doing the 'spooking leads to more work' approach. I have confident that I know the difference between a genuine 'EEEK' vs a 'eek I cannot possibly work anymore'.

But now that I'm not spending 40 minutes working on getting her attention I need to figure out what do now. I realized that yesterday I was feeling a bit frustrated because our transitions were not 'through' enough for me.

I then realized that 2 weeks ago I was trying to get her to steer reliably.

Turns out I want more. I'm feeling much more relaxed with her even when she's being a bit tense or spooky. And when she does spook (which is now much rarer) it doesn't take much to get us back. Our canter work is much straighter too.

And she's happier. Not always and sometimes she gets a wee bit cranky. But it's not really serious and I try to listen to her. It's feeling like a partnership.

So the timing is great for the clinic I'm in this weekend. It's with Johanna and I am hoping that she can give us some exercises and homework. Last year we could only walk - turned out to be saddle fit.  Then I can start back again with Shanea- we've been having some scheduling difficulties.

Dressage- it sucks you in and makes you want more and more. 

I'd say wish us luck but I really mean wish us a great learning experience.