Sunshine With Shadow

Despite the heavy rain predicted for today, we ended up having a gloriously sunny day, dare I even say almost summer like. It did mean I was sweltering in a waterproof coat. But anyway. I arrived and was asked to brush Shadow which of course I didn't mind in the least. I was brushing him on the fence as the girl looking after him had moved him there while she mucked him out. I discovered he is much easier to brush his face when he's haltered to the fence so actually got some mud off of his face for once which was good. Halfway through, we moved him back to his stable and finished off brushing and tacked him up and we were running late so I jumped on from the ground. I need to practice this much more as I still need a push from someone getting on a 15.3 HH horse. Once mounted, I followed another horse and was walking by myself again today in the glorious sunshine. My trots were fabulous and he was totally listening to me. Our contact was good and I felt so relaxed. We were on a ride with a lot of less experienced riders so I got to canter once on this ride. I was on my own, with one of the other girls running to the end to yell stop when I got there. I gave a squeeze and we got a few strides, then trot, then I squeezed again, another stride and another squeeze, another stride. But I was kind of pleased with this anyway, as he was going when I asked, just not staying and my sitting trot was pretty awesome. My RI was really pleased with me actually. She said I looked good and relaxed. I was reading a piece on Horse and country about heels down in canter and it seems I'm not the only one to have any of these issues. The strike off in the canter seems to be my biggest problem, or it has been. It possibly still is but I've not seen it for a few weeks. I'm just totally relaxed for some reason. More trotting and his energy was great. He did try to have a few snacks today which made me giggle. Nice try Shadow. Once back at the yard, I untacked him and gave him a few cuddles. Then was chatting to another girl and she had to jump off and take the saddle off of her horse and put it on a different horse so I offered to hold him and there was no hesitation or call for someone else, I stood stroking this lovely horse while holding him still. She'll not know what that meant to me. I was watching a jumping lesson before I left. My rI and I were chatting about para show jumping during my ride today and she had some really good and quite accurate ideas about how it could be done. I talked about the show jumper, Peter Charles recently leading a jumper who was blind around a show jumping course in France. He's done this before too, with Britain's first blind show jumper, who is also from my neck of the woods. :) It was good to hear her talk so positively about it. Just hope one day I can try my hand at jumping too. Anyway, that's today's ride and hoping tomorrow is another lovely, relaxed and enjoyable one. :) Thanks, Marie http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1422548_leap-of-faith-blind-showjumper-represents-great-aunt http://www.horseandcountry.tv/ask-the-expert/help-how-do-i-keep-my-heels-down-canter

subtleness, Bonding, and Confidence Building

Considering I only had one ride today, I learnt a great deal about myself as a rider, about my progress and about the horses I ride. I've thought for the longest time that my bond with Shadow was very great. The gorgeous, white friend first gave me a little indication of our friendship when I walked into his stable just over a year ago to brush him and I couldn't hear him munching hay, or moving around. I stuck my hand out of the door, as at the time he was in the corner stable to check I was in the right one and not actually attempting to brush a non existent horse. I quietly called his name and incredibly this gorgeous, intelligent creature touched his nose to my hand, almost to say, "hey, friend, I'm right here". I've only experienced this amazing feeling with my guide dog Bailey and my nephew who on several occasions now, despite his lack of communication skills verbally, has moved into my open hands when I was looking for him and touched my hand to a fallen farm animal toy on his play mat so I could return it to standing. The beauty of children and animals is their upmost nature of innocence. Their sense that something isn't quite right as you're not looking them in the eye as other people do and their cognition that takes that information and instantly knows that somehow, they need to attract your attention to them in another way. I guess some people would say what Shadow did a year ago was just a coincidence and I should stop looking too much into things. But every time I ride that magnificent creature, I feel a sense of care from him. He takes care of me on his back and I know most horses do the same for their riders but I know he knows I need him to be a little more careful with me as I can't use my own eyes to prevent dangerous situations. This has what made me think today that ground work with horses, especially for disabled riders is essential. If I hadn't insisted on learning to brush, tack and untack and feed the horses where possible, I don't know whether Shadow and the others would truly know. As if they were being mounted from the mounting block, it's likely eye contact would never be an issue. But that day in Shadow's stable, he knew I was looking for him, and he knew I couldn't see him so he stretched his long neck and touched my hand, so gently to tell me he was there. But he had learnt that while I was on the ground, not on his back. I'm bringing this old event up as something happened today that made me remember this incident and reiterate my beliefs about horses intelligence and ability to know things that some humans wouldn't give them credit for. I chose to ride Topaz today. I had my safe rides last week on Shadow and I knew that despite not feeling nervy about riding him again, the longer I put it off, the harder it may become to get back on him. It was a really sunny morning so I mounted him and we set off on the ride. I had someone with me today and the young lady who walked with us was great! I didn't ask for someone to come with me but in some respects I'm really glad that happened. We followed another horse and went on the road routes. I felt secure in the saddle today, not at all like the last fateful ride with him. His trots were beautiful and for the first two, my walker ran alongside me. By the last trot, I felt comfortable enough to trot by myself. My contact was incredible with him today. He has a very long stride so even though he may not be going very fast, he covers a lot of ground so half halts come in useful with him. My hands felt light and the contact springy. He was so responsive and this just proves the keyness of subtly with horses. I kept my hands light and the movement I was using was so slight and yet he responded far better than with a heavy hand. This also helped with my own relaxed state to. The girl taking this ride, as our usual RI wasn't there today, happened to be the poor girl who was on the last ride when I fell from Topaz. I did make her a solemn promise I'd do my best not to fall today. She was so glad I was getting back on him and said I was right to do it sooner rather than later. She asked, halfway through the ride if I was going to canter? It wasn't really a question but an I-Hope-you-are statement. I said I would definitely try but asked if my walker would come with me. I was glad she did, not that my confidence was half as bad as I thought it would be, but because I got some amazing feedback from her. I asked for a canter, and we got one stride. I know this both because I felt it and because she said he'd put a leg out to canter than stopped. Then another stride later on. The good thing was though that there was a good trotting time that I actually was sitting to the trot. I'd said before when after the fall, I'd gone on Bella and asked to do some sitting trots. They'd gone OK but I wasn't as in my seat and bounced about a little. On previous rides with Topaz, I'd often bounce around in the seat, especially as he has a significant bounce to his trot. But I didn't feel that today. And not once did I feel unbalanced, unsteady or even feel like reaching for his mane. I just sat it out. It was pretty incredible. I guess the fall really did make my bum sticky. I wasn't disappointed we didn't get a full blown canter. The fact he did two strides and I was sitting to the trot made me so happy. The fact I've done my first ride back on him and had a fantastic one was more than I could have asked. We got back to the yard and I led him in and untacked him. The girl walking with me, just stood back and let me get on with it. She didn't interfere and allowed me to get on with the job. I appreciate that so much. She commented how much he was listening to me. She obviously could see his ears moving as I spoke to him and she said for most of the ride he had his ears forward. Part of me wonders if the reason he didn't fully canter was him remembering our last ride. Maybe he needed a confidence boost with our partnership to. I think we both got that today. I feel in the oddest way, the fall off of him strengthened our bond not weakened it, if that makes any sense whatsoever at all. I truly loved being back on him today and he got a huge hug and just stood there being so quiet and patient as I dug out the polos. So thank you Topaz for a fabulous ride. I'll be back tomorrow as I'm doing another ride in the morning. Thanks for reading my philosophical dribble. Marie

Hand in Hoof, a partnership

I was slightly anxious this morning, not because I'm afraid of falling off again but I'm afraid of making an idiot out of myself. Falling off twice in two weeks is a joke if you're just hacking so I hoped I wouldn't but was excited to get to the yard anyway. I wanted to get on Shadow this week, partly because he's my comfort zone and partly because I haven't ridden him much lately. Maybe I should have gone for a more risky ride but it felt so super nice to get on that gorgeous, tall, white friend this morning. I wasn't certain there would be much riding as we've had heavy rainfall and areas are flooded in our area but I had heard nothing so was relieved when I got to the yard and normal business was in session. Shadow was fidgety this morning. Even when I put his bridle on but I led him out to the mounting block and was sitting in that familiar saddle, knowing my stirrups were absolutely right and felt so safe. We did the road route first today which I haven't done for a few weeks so that was nice. He was so forward and really full of energy, it was a pleasure to ride. At the beginning of our ride, his foot was apparently on an edge so my RI pulled him away. I think it must have had something to do with the rainfall as I don't remember it ever being an issue before. Because no one would tell me what was happening, my hands tightened which made things worse and then once that was over and we were in our first trot, the relaxed hands were back and my contact was amazing with him. I think most of us have that particular horse we find is our comfort zone. They know us and we know them. I think I've probably ridden him the most and so it s the exact reason for it. He and I work well together. There was a lot of boggy ground today and on the ground we could have sneaked onto was very busy with people and dogs so we had a lot of trotting work which now I think about it I could have practiced sitting trot. I guess I was just so happy to be in the saddle again. Mr Shadow was being good but was a little difficult to keep him in line as there were a lot of parked cars so one of the girls would run with me during trot. She also came with me during canter as it was a chriss cross through trees and not very long. I'm happy to say, I got a lovely canter out of him and best of all, I think my fall has drummed into my bum that I need to stick it to the saddle during canter. I went with him so well today, feeling my hips move with the rhythm and not once feeling off set or off balanced. I'm so glad I got that canter today. I think if I hadn't, I may have lost some confidence but I guess making the choice to ride my tall, white, faithful friend was one of my better decisions. The back lane was closed due to the water so no amazing canters on this ride. I got back to the yard, after many walks and trots and him listening so lovely and asked if I could ride him again. I was told to loosen his girth, tie up his reins so he could grab a quick break which I was happy to do. Amazing how I'm trusted now once I get off to lead them in and sort out their tack and stuff. I love that. I waited outside his stable, chatting to him and when it was time to mount, I led him out and tightened his girth and up I went into my faithful friend's saddle again. He was much more fidgety on this ride. I had a very impatient pony. I seriously think if we'd had good cantering grounds today, he would have been off in some fabulous canters. We took the farm route this time and I was following another horse again with no leader. I love these rides. Not that the girls aren't lovely but it is just me and the horse and the sense of freedom I get from that is incredible. The decisions are all mine and most of the time I get those right. Our trots were slightly less forward for the first half of this hack but I highly suspect the route may have had something to do with it. I guess horses get as bored as we do. I know my guide dog, if we're doing the same routes, day in and day out, he's much more ploddy than if we change it up a little. I bet horses, being the intelligent creatures that they are get the same way. This hack had no cantering on it at all but I just enjoyed being with my lovely Shadow and getting some real bonding time. My RI was busy with a lot of the other riders as they were beginners and needed a lot of feedback whereas I don't think I got any corrections on this ride. I had a perfectly responsive pony minus the few times he tried to sneak a snack. Too bad Shadow, I know you too well now and can stop that before it happens. He didn't get one munch under my watch. heehee. I put him back in his stable and gave him lots of cuddles and felt the lovely warmth from my heart that I have for this horse. He's a pleasure to know and I just feel I have some kind of connection with him which is beautiful. I guess being around him shows me the beauty of what human and horse relationships are. So until next week, Thanks for reading, Marie

Super Soggy Part 1

If anyone, like me, saw the drizzly excuse of our British summer here this morning, and thought to themselves, I'd rather stay in doors, I cannot blame you. Those thoughts ran through my head. Do I really want to go riding in this awful weather? I've ridden in all kinds of weather and pride myself on not being a fair weather rider. I often tease my dad that horse riders are much tougher than golfers, as that's his choice of hobby as many Sunday mornings while the rain is pelting down, dad stays in bed while I trek off to the yard in water proofs. But despite my feeling of yuck, it's pouring with rain, I got ready and headed up to the yard, clad in my water proofs. It hardly relented the whole time I was there today. I was one of the first there so had the choice of all the ponies, when asked, I asked to ride Shadow, and then someone's voice, who I know to be the lovely Magic's owner said, "are you having a change today? You're not riding Magic?" I didn't know she was there so I asked if I could change. I enjoy riding this horse very much as she's teaching me not all horses are relatively well mannered school horses and she challenges me a lot. I'm still being lead quite a lot with her and usually by her owner which I find is quite useful as I gain an insight into this lovely horse's regular behaviours. So as the skies seemed to drain heavily of their rain clouds, I mounted and sat there for what seemed like forever waiting for all the other riders to be mounted. All I can say is, thank goodness for whoever invented waterproof clothing! Getting up the hill on the farm hack was more than a chore today. She was being very strong willed and despite using half halts, she was not being very helpful to our leader. Our trots were very nice although she seemed slightly half asleep on the first few but I highly suspect being cold and wet could have had something to do with it. Because they're saving the fields for hay growing, our usual big field is closed off to us so the only canter we got was on the back lane. It was very nice and collected today. Even though she was being a handful on the cobbles, rushing herself quite a lot and hardly listening to begin with, eventually there was some level of control gained by myself and the girl taking this ride as she took over from her owner, she was being so strong.But by the end of this ride, despite my hands in the beginning slipping a lot on the reins, I did feel I had better contact with her. I decided, as wet as I was, I'd do another ride today and save getting wet tomorrow too. Which in retrospect is probably a good idea as my riding hat is still soaked. I will blog about my second half of the ride tomorrow. Thanks for reading, Marie

SPEED!

I was very close to not going to the yard today. I did feel a little dispirited this morning over my riding. I didn't think yesterday had got to me but it really had. I just felt a pure lack of out of control yesterday and with my recent escapades with some of the other horses, I've felt a pure lack of confidence. But sitting in my kitchen, eating crunchy nut cornflakes, I gave myself a good talking to. "You are not giving up! You're better than that! You get back on that horse and show them you're in charge." A good few words from some great horsey people reminded me down times have to exist in order to appreciate the good and having a bad day is normal along with learning many different horses. Without all of my experiences, good and bad, I'd never become an all rounded rider. So I went and dressed and headed up to the yard with a positive attitude. I asked if I could ride Kenny, despite having a mixture of choice. Kenny's the lovely coloured gelding that I felt very unnerved on for some time. His bouncy gait used to make me feel unsafe. I put on his bridle and lead him to the mounting block. Once mounted, and off on the ride, following beautiful Bella. His walk and trot were lovely. Forward. The first trot was a little ploddy but I quickly got him forward which was nice. He wasn't leaning on my hands and despite a few failed canters, I got one eventually and I was so in my seat which pleased me greatly!!!! We headed back and I felt my spirits lifted and decided to get back on the lovely Magic and see if I could get her more together and listening to me today. She was a live wire today. Her walks and trots were collected and forward. I do love her trots so much. I had someone on hand but for a lot of the walk and trotting I just had someone around or running alongside which was a huge improvement. She can be very fidgety and something I learnt today was to relax my hands more with her as she is very soft in the mouth and my tensing was not helping her in the least. Once I got that in my head she was a little more calm and collected and not trying to go wherever she wanted. Yesterday, she tried to follow the girl I was with but without someone walking alongside us for some of this route, she was listening to me more and we were following another horse to begin with until later on when she decided it would be better to head in front which the RI okayed. The canters you ask? Oh well, they were speedy. At some points, I wasn't sure she was going to stop despite me putting the breaks on. Dude, where's my breaks kept popping into my head. But feeling bad for the girl running with us, I loved the speed and the feeling of her canters. I was so in my seat and I think that was part of the reason we kept going and going. That was a nice feeling but obviously her lack of listening during canter was not so great. My RI told me to use half halts as she was rushing herself. I swear a slight nudge may have made her go into gallop, that was one mighty fast canter, and I'll safely say the fastest canter I've ever experienced. The tough thing I found, was told today to keep hands relaxed and I know she's soft in the mouth and despite using my knees and thighs to try and stop her, she just wasn't willing to stop. Do others find this happens if the horse is in a particular mood? Anyway, our second canter, I was doing on, off,on off, with my half halts and yet she was still going, going, going, at some incredible speed. Another rider who was walking today with her sister who was riding, told me she didn't know how I stayed on. But I do. I stayed on because I kept going with her, stayed in my seat and kept my balance. After we got off of the field, we went for another trot and then just walked where we were now in front. The girl walking with me wandered to talk to our RI I think and the girl behind me who often leads but was on horse back today was chatting to me and directed me to turn right down the cobbles. I managed the horse much better today and she was listening to me more even when our walker was alongside me. Another great trot and then to the back lane where until yesterday this gorgeous mare had never cantered for me. But today was different. And the canter was collected and no where near as fast as before. We had a break into a trot, then back to canter which was amazing! I loved it!!!! Today just proved to me, push through it and you'll get there. I reeked the rewards and despite losing the breaks, it was a good experience. I need to work on the control in canter with her and work on my breaking technique with a horse that's sensitive in her mouth as she is. Too much tension on the reins and she gets narky and dances around understandably. I had fun though today and felt like despite our breaking issues I made some progress on this pony and even on the lovely Kenny who we all nicknamed King Kenny today as I have ridden him much less than the others at the yard. So a totally different feel today. Thanks for reading, Marie

Spring is Back

What a beautifully sunny day it was here this morning. I even stripped off my coat to ride in a thin hooded sweat shirt. I opted to ride Topaz. I've not ridden him since our rain incident a few weeks ago and I knew I should get on him to ensure I wasn't feeling nervous or anything. Nerves were non existent as was Topaz's energy this morning. I tried going but he was not giving me much at all today. I felt really unbalanced in his trots as they were so ploddy. Cantering was almost non existent but got a small one eventually. I just felt I was putting so much in and getting nothing back. Maybe he wanted Sunday off work, who knows? By the end of this ride I felt depleted and was in pretty low spirits. When asked who I wanted to ride I said a faster horse. Shadow and Bella and Kenny are all lame so fingers crossed they get better soon so the choices were limited. I rode the pretty mare that I've only ridden twice before. She was full of beans but I had her in good control. My trots on her were amazing today. The girl walking with me as we were in lead file said I look good in trot on her which was a lovely compliment. She is very light on the leg so a little squeeze and off we went into canter. Unlike on Topaz today where I felt I was flying around in the saddle, on this pretty girl, I was mostly in my seat and the crazy part is she's much bouncier than Topaz is. Go figure right? On my first canter, my RI said I was going with her in the beginning, then lost it in the middle and got it back again. So on the next canter she wanted me in my seat and going with her from the start to the finish. I posted a post on Lorraine's agony aunt's page yesterday as I'm struggling keeping my seat on bouncier ponies at the minute. I thought about what her advice was, making it feel like I had no legs. Amazingly, my weight just seemed to fall into my heels even though I was trying not to do anything with my legs, just sitting deeper into the saddle. I leaned consciously further back as Maddi had suggested and this all seemed to help. Wasn't even holding my saddle today as I felt a little more confident with her. Maybe the horse I rode yesterday, I might try the holding the saddle and pushing away rather than pulling towards me as Lorraine suggested but we'll see who I ride next week. My second canter was absolutely in sync and it felt a lot better. Only third time riding this pretty girl and so I was pleased with my progress. I love her trots, so quick and prancy. She was a good ride after the hard work I had to do with the gorgeous Topaz this morning. She's actually becoming really comfortable for me to ride. Who knew, a Welsh section D would make it onto my maybe the breed of pony I might want to look into getting. Back at the yard, I untacked and gave Topaz and Magic their polos. Then I went to visit the stable bound ponies. Bella seemed a bit down today whereas Shadow was all over me. He finished off the polos and got lots of nice cuddles and kisses from him. All under a lovely sunny sky this morning. Thanks for reading guys, Marie

Riding Royalty and Foal update

Sadly, my gorgeous Shadow is still lame, visited him after my ride today and boy was he sulking. A few cuddles and a few polos seemed to cheer him up though. Another of my favourite ponies is also lame, the lovely bay beauty, AKA Bella had a nasty accident with a wire this week and so is all bandaged and on rest. She got cuddles today too bless her. So pony choice was slightly limited today, understandably. I was given the options of the pretty mare I've ridden for the past two Saturdays, the tall, handsome Topaz or another new pony. Yes, another unfamiliar steed. I did ask for Topaz as I haven't ridden him since our rain episode and I figured I should get on him and have a positive ride sooner rather than later. But due to one thing and another, I ended up riding the new pony. This is a horse who lives with the pretty mare who is owned by one of the girls at our yard so not a school pony. He's 14.2 and very quick. I say royalty as his name is a very royal title. He's lovely but very light in the mouth so contact took a bit to adjust. He was also quite fidgety so I had to be very bossy with him. We followed another horse on this ride and I was amazed I didn't have a leader or walker even, just me and the new pony. His trots are very quick, like his walk is quick too but I really got into his stride so quickly. A bit of playing on his bit made him listen. My RI had told me he's very bouncy and although I didn't find this too much in walk and trot, canter was a different issue. I bounced out of my saddle. His gait is very bouncy in canter and so on the second try of canter, my RI ran with me and told me to hold my saddle instead of holding both reins with my hand. I said I felt I was taking a step back to which she reassured me and said I was just adjusting to a new horse's very bouncy canter. Most of the horses I choose to ride have very smooth gaits and so I find it easier to go with them but this horse, along with a few others, I really need to go with so much more. I know I'll get it as I never used to be able to go with horses like Shadow or Topaz but now I can. My RI, says no more Mr nice guy, bouncy horses are in my future to get me solely used to the bounce especially in canter. First ride on this lovely boy and she was on our second trot yelling, "which diagonal are you on," to which I responded the right and she yelled "correct". That pleased me a lot. He was a little hard work, and really testing me. I'd ask him to halt and then he'd fidget but not sure if that was because he knew I was a new rider and was testing me or something else. My RI told me to really move my legs off of his side during halt but even this didn't work sometimes. It was definitely a very interesting and productive ride. News on our foal, as promised. His name. Drum roll please? ________________ SAMSON! I think he's going to grow into such a handsome and regal and wise horse. That's what that name sums up to me. Anyway, providing no horrific weather tomorrow, I'll be back to tell you how that all goes. Off to a party at my house now so hope everyone has a fab Saturday with their horses. Thanks Marie

Sunday's Ride: Back To Hard Work

I got my usual instructor back on Sunday and boy do my muscles know about it today? I'm not complaining, I loved every minute of it. And boy did those horses test me yesterday. I rode Topaz first, and he was being a very good boy. Lovely forward trots and the diagonals were back yesterday. I was sincerely out of practice having not done them on the past four or five rides but she had me back into the swing of them soon enough, keep yelling, "which diagonal are you on?" I eventually got them back. After our first trot, we had to turn around to go on the field on our first canter, The pony in front of us turned and then I put my right leg on and brought him round on it to turn him 180 degrees. The girl walking with me was amazed and said I'd turned him on a very small circle and she was pretty impressed. I think that's a good thing, right? I literally felt him turning around on my leg, it was a cool feeling. We went on the farm hacks on both rides on Sunday which I enjoyed. The first canter was lovely on him, so smooth and forward. I definitely prefer the smooth gait with a slight bounce like Topaz's or Shadow's very smooth gait. I had someone walking with me on this ride but she didn't need to do much in all honesty. Just was there, just in case. More trotting and another canter on the field which was more prolonged and energetic. Down the cobbles and along to the back lane where the hard work began. He was not cantering, he'd got it into his pretty head that he was the king of the world and was not cantering for me. So as the other pony had basically had the same idea, our instructor made us come back and try again. Go back? Forget that, Topaz thought to himself and so he and I got into our biggest battle. He was not turning, he was going home to his hay. Yes, Topaz, you are turning, I will make sure of it. My instructor didn't come to assist, just told me to keep being bossy, don't let him win. And he didn't. I have to say, a 16.1 HH of half a ton of horse beneath me, refusing to do what I asked was slightly unnerving, all that fidgeting, all that, no, no, don't make me go, and then the ultimate feeling of whoohoo, he did what I asked made me smile. So we tried again, fast, fast, trot, oooh, maybe I'll canter, nah, I won't and we were done. I was not at all disappointed, he tested me today and I did win the biggest battle. I did a second ride on Sunday on the gorgeous gelding called Kenny who I rarely ride. He has a very bouncy gait and he's my instructor's favourite. He's the lovely one who likes to lean on your hands if you let him. I'm glad to say, he doesn't do it with me now as he's realised that he can't. I mounted him and was waiting around in the sunshine a while as we were waiting for some other riders. We were so short of leaders yesterday, my instructor even had to lead. I was on the ride with two adults who needed leaders and a little girl who my instructor was leading. I was basically told I'd be on my own completely on this ride. I was not bothered by this in the least! After chilling on a very impatient pony after around twenty minutes, in the glorious spring sunshine, we set off. I was bringing up the rear to begin with but Kenny decided Bella, who was in lead who we call his girlfriend was better to be behind. My instructor allowed this as I could hear Bella's hooves better anyway. A lovely walk up the hill and then a nice forward trot, still being asked, "which diagonal?" I found it slightly easier on him, maybe because he has a bouncier gait and its more pronounced, I'm not sure. Then onto the field for a canter. Another horse that decided it was the day to test me. We didn't get one but I wasn't altogether surprised. This was the first time I'd ridden him without a walker or leader at all so the trust must have taken a slight dip. I patted him all the same and continued to test my diagonals on some trots. On some dirt track, I found it slightly harder to hear Bella's hooves and was asked to watch my distance so I slowed him up. My contact did feel slightly different. As I have said, he leans, and so when you pick up contact, it seems hard to me to judge if I've got good contact initially or he's leaning. Onto the last field and a squeeze, trot, another squeeze and canter. It was a good one but I really had forgot how bouncy he was and needed to go with him more. But after this, as its the first canter I've done independently on this horse, and with it being my instructor's favourite one, she gave me the best compliment. She said, I'm really a confident rider and I'm improving every time she sees me ride and she's very pleased with me. I did beam a little inside. This is a horse I have probably rode much less than Shadow, Bella and Topaz and with it being her favourite too, that just meant so much more. Lots of nice pats and some lovely chats, I feel more like I'm on autopilot in walk these days, keeping an ear to the horse in front but being able to enjoy the rides out. I guess I should enjoy them as when I start lessons, I know that's going to be a pure half an hour of solid hard work. :) Thanks for reading. Marie