Lessons

My girls are two very different horses but they have one big problem in common...MOI!
I got pretty much the same comments for both;
- they both favour looking outside vs bending correctly towards the inside.
Kika is squirmy as mentioned before, she is slightly easier to manoeuvre as she's more sensitive then Nancy. But this also makes her slightly more difficult as she reacts first and thinks about what she's being asked later - whereas Nancy thinks about things first and takes a little more time (and coercion aka leg) to do what is being asked of her.

Post-work mirror selfie

- i need to raise my inside hand slightly & lower my outside hand ... it is particularly bad when my right hand is on the inside. Not surprising really as this has long been my weaker side, so it makes sense that it needs more work.
I also need to watch my wrists as i have a nasty habit of letting them droop and/or become puppy paws - i must pay more attention to them!

Sadly I didn't manage a mirror selfie with N
in her new to us petrol saddle pad...
maybe tomorrow

- i need to turn my toes out slightly to help my leg position. Oddly my left leg is typically worse that my right leg on this occasion...although now that I think about it, it is usually more my inside leg than outside leg and probably because I am a demon for using my heel to nag their sides rather than my calf which has the negative effect of curling my leg up into more of a foetal position than it should be in. Honestly how i don't fall off for being so unbalanced is ridiculous as my outside leg stays long and that heel stays down - go figure!
I think this may also have something to do with both girls habit of gawping outside and not bending towards the inside (see first indent above) my mind knows i have to keep my inside leg on to present some resistance to stop the squirming in (Kika) / fishtailing (Nancy).

- S (trainer) gave me good feedback to ride Nancy with my hands further apart to help her understand what i am asking of her and between them and my legs give little option but to follow the funnel i am providing to keep her straight/coax some more inside bend.

- Both girls need to work more on transitions w/t & t/c with plenty changes of rein, bend, serpentines and circles of all sizes.

- Kika needs to work on her halt, i am to do nothing with my hands till she gives or alternatively play a little with the bit of she is being particularly awkward.

My chunky monkey ♡ 

Both girls were very good, I rode Kika first because i thought the arena would be quieter earlier in the day - boy was i wrong. There were three others in the arena with us, K kept it together really well despite the close quarters and encounters.  She was much better and less squirmy than the last two days. I guess practice does make perfect and a bit of consistent saddle time makes all the difference. I hope to return to both saddles tomorrow evening after work.
Fingers crossed i can make a clean break from work and clock up more saddle time ☺