Since we didn't ride yesterday I did double duty at Ashland today. :) And surprisingly, the weather was quite nice! It did get overcast for part of the day and it's currently POURING down, but for the most part, it was a beautiful day. Yay!
Funny and I headed over to Ashland. They closed the arena's at 4 for maintenance before the rain, so I had to recalculate my plan a bit. So we went for a short hack to warm up and then headed to the arena to ride. It was definitely better than most of our rides, but not as good as my lesson with Liz. But gosh.. it is impressive how much softer and more correct and through she is in the right saddle. She was still chompy today.. much chompier than in my Liz lesson. And she was quick but it was easier to keep her slow and she responded better to my seat and weight aids. And she's still not steady in the connection, but... it's so much better overall. A much softer feel and more elastic and more correct.
We didn't really do anything fancy today... just tried to get a good straight trot and canter. I did a few lenghtenings here and there. And there was a lot of good moments. I had some really nice trot... and some nice canter moments. And the left lead canter felt not so leany today, so yay for that. We also had some frustrations though. I'm super hormonal... (had to take my pms tea when I got home I was suddenly irate at things that shouldn't have made me irate... at least I knew it and kept myself from snapping too badly at Mike). So she spooked at someone coming out of the woods and I got mad at her. I didn't realize... just thought she was being stupid. Which... people come out of the woods all the time... so I felt bad. Although when we were done and I was going up to the judges booth to get my vest, a bird fluttered in the bush and she spun 180 degrees and almost dumped me. And I didn't get mad then. Yay me.
So... overall, a better ride than previously but not as great as in my Liz lesson, but... still progress. We did go out for a cool down hack and did a nice long hack. She had gotten sweaty in the arena so I figured a nice long walk in the woods would help. It was chilly and there was a bit of a damp briskness to the air so I didn't want to hose her off, but... she was pretty sweaty. It worked though and I was able to just rub her down with a damp towel when we finished. And with the back on track, she was pretty much dry when we got home.
So... hopefully we can jump on Tuesday with Jacel and take a breather and then.. this month is going to be light between me being out of town for the vet conference... the vet visit this Firday... and working... and less daylight... and then maybe showing. But I am excited to see how much progress we can make in dressage now that her saddle isn't bothering her!
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