Lesson III

Today was Kika's turn to lesson again, also known as my first time on her back since clipping. Hardly ideal, when today was the coldest morning we've had this week. Can we say typical lolz.
K was a little spookier than she has been the last few months, but she also wasn't turned out Tuesday or yesterday, so really i only have myself to blame.

Little Miss Bedhead

We warmed up with walk/trot transitions before getting hooked up with the headset.

I'm a big meaney who woke K up for our lesson @ midday - the lazy bones

Takeaways from this lesson include:

- Inside heel sneaks up too much and leg goes backwards. Left leg worse than right

- Watch right hand that it doesn't get too low, especially when transitioning up and down to canter i need to support her better with my seat and keep my hands steady & balanced.

- Transitions, again I need to watch my hands and push Kika forwards so she doesn't fall onto her forehand.

- Work on halt from walk & trot.
I held my hand up and admitted to not having particularly worked on our halt (or walk for that matter - teacher laughed and said a lot of people forget to work the basics). K has a habit of stretching her neck when we halt, so S (teacher) had me focus on playing with the reins to have her give with her neck and not stretch against me. Teacher said halting square can be sorted later, K needs to learn that halt doesn't mean she can stop working and stretch her neck out.

Trainer said that it went better than our previous lesson, so baby steps towards improvement. ☺
I was still trying to process all the things she had told me, but looking back on it now it was a very productive lesson. Fingers crossed we can schedule some more and keep this Upward curve of improvement.

Kika then got her mane pulled, she hates it but was mollify ed by my stuffing her face with treats. I remember being told before that it's easier on them if we pull their manes after work as their pores/hair follicles are more open. I'm not sure Kika would agree, but she was a very good girl.

Nancy was up next for a quick spin & was a very good girl. I tried to keep my hands and contact steady while also making sure I kept my inside hand in check. We worked on all three gaits, circling, serpentining as we transitioned between w/t/c. The three of us then went out to the winter turnout, where the girls were much calmer than the previous two outings. They called a couple times, but were generally happier with being out in the afternoon sunshine. I made the final fixes to the fencing & checked it all to make sure electricity was traveling all around the area and left the girls alone for a few hours while i went home to warm up some before going back in the evening to bring them in.