15m Front, 20m Back

We have had a slew of rain and thunderstorms, which made getting a lesson at home precarious. So I asked Lauren whether we should reschedule or trailer in. She was up for either and we opted to trailer in. With their indoor the lesson could happen.

Uh, do you realize it is raining out there?

And thundering and lightning

As we drove closer and closer, the clouds got darker. I asked for it to wait until we had them tacked and in the indoor. Ha, joke was on me. It poured, thundered and lightning lit the sky as I tacked up Roscoe. My saddle was soaked by time we made it to the barn. I really need a rain cover. Roscoe was hyper reactive... for a Cob and spooked at a bunch of stuff. He gets that way when his hormones are high. I took him over to start walking the indoor. Peggy went to rescue Rosemary out of the trailer and tuck her in a stall Lauren let us use.

Camera hog :)

I planned to have Lauren tune up Roscoe, but I ended up riding him the whole time. She asked what we were working on as Roscoe and I spooked around the arena. I told her our focus was getting him off my inside leg. She laughed as Roscoe was scared of the stallion in the mirror. Lauren said I needed my "cozy" leg rather than my normal "off" leg considering his mood. Once we were warmed up, she put us on a 15m circle in the middle of the arena.

Mother and Son

Then the fun began. She told me to ride him straight on the 15m and then once the circle was established, I had push his hind end out to the 20m circle. That was hard. At times I had to tap him with the whip and/ or turn my heel. The hardest was to ride "ugly" and do things that are only for schooling. Lauren told me to over bend him to the inside, then release. I knew when Roscoe and I were getting it when he slowed and swished his tail. I don't know if we managed what Lauren wanted, but the change was amazing. Roscoe was better in the poll and stepping under with the inside hind. Lauren said he was straighter in his nose. He was energized by working away from home, but the humidity took its toll. We only touched on canter since he was running out of steam. When I asked him to step under at canter, he realized how hard he had been working. Still Lauren was able to see the winter work we did and the improvement in his transitions. So now she wants him to pick up canter out of different  trots. This way he will learn to transition from slow or quick. Now if the rain would stop, we could actually do our homework.

Mother's Day/ Rosemary's B-day gift

Mom and Rosemary worked on activating her hind end. I missed the start because Roscoe decided the wash rack was too scary. When I made it back, Lauren had them slow the trot, but stay active, on corners and then immediately push forward on the straights. Lauren was greedy and wanted more from Rosemary. Mom has asked her to slow before, but this was more than she ever asked. Rosemary looked great. The work allowed her to have easier canter transitions. Mom improved too as her confidence with Rosemary's canter grew. I wish I took  video, dang rain messed me up. So no lesson media. Rosemary turned 11 years old and she just keeps getting better.

Get your guesses in for the Foal Pool, entries close on the 5th. Eventually this monsoon will end and we can look forward to baby pictures.

2016 Cross Stitch