Continuing the thread

So tonight we continued working on what Carey showed us last night. Lots of bending around cones at both a walk and a trot. Lots of me really thinking about keeping him straight on the straightaways and really getting him to bend on the corners. I also set up some trot poles (before I got on, SprinklerBandit) but after we trotted through them a couple times, it was obvious I'd set them to an awkward distance. So I got off, re-set them, and climbed back on and he floated right on through them. :D Time was, he'd hit every pole when we did them so he's definitely at least learned that much. Even when they were set awkwardly, he didn't really hit them, but his strides felt weird.

Was also able to trot all around the rail on a loose (er) rein without him drifting too much in which is an improvement. We had cones in each of the corners to help keep a visual of where we should be staying on the "track".

Also did a short canter in each direction but I really need to put a grab strap on my saddle until I can wean myself off of grabbing to hold something when we transition. Right now I'm grabbing mane and I think he's learned that (I've mentioned it before) as a cue to transition up which is not something I want him to think. I need to remember to also grab mane and then make him stay at the same gait or even ask for a downward transition so he disassociates it.

I didn't ride as long tonight as last night, but that was okay, we both worked hard enough. :) I wish I had some pictures of us riding but nobody was in the barn to take them, so you'll have to make do with the one above that I took after we rode.