Winter Weather, But Still On Track

After my fabulous in-hand lesson last week, I was determined to do my homework, however... best laid plans and all that...

It was either windy, rainy or windy AND rainy all week long. I know, welcome to the Pacific Northwest... Anyway, I tried to do what I could. I practiced stretching and bending in the grooming stall, backing straight down the barn aisle and mini side passing in the grooming stall as well. While I didn't do everything I would have liked, I did do what I could. I'll take it!

Tonight's lesson was phenomenal! I got this great book of dressage exercises and tried one of them during my warmup tonight. It was a series of 10-meter circles followed by a slight shoulder in down the arena to the next letter where you complete the next 10-meter circle, and so on. I feel like I finally figured out how to tell my left leg to "be active" and not just keep pressure on! We had some really great bendy moments, but we also had a lot of falling out of the circle. I still have a long way to go.

We also worked on Intro Level Test A! WOOT WOOT! Goals! My incredible trainer, CG, talked me through the pattern and near the end of my lesson I felt like I nearly had it memorized. We also worked on Gryfon's freewalk. He has a GREAT walk and I just need to stay out of his way while influencing his direction. (AKA stay straight) 

Towards the end of the lesson, CG talked me through using my corners and the geometry of a circle. I feel like we make a lot of progress tonight and I'm super excited for the rest of the year! My homework this week is to continue the "groundwork" and stretching and if the weather lets up, do some of it outside! 

I will say that the storms over the last few days made a gorgeous sunset last night. I haven't seen such a pretty sunset since I left the high desert. Enjoy!