novemberish

So last night's ride was more like what I'd associate with November- mostly dull. I think Trudi was tired and a bit sore, but she stretched really well. We did the canter work early, but she still seemed to get tired really fast and struggled- she didn't rush for the most part, but right lead departs were sluggish and just not great. At one point I lost a stirrup and freaked her out- she simply cannot abide a banging stirrup. I've lunged her with them down before but she just hates it and always tries to run. I've let her go around many, many times, but she always acts like she hates it SO MUCH. I put a nix on the running with our good buddy, the wall, then went on like nothing happened. At any rate, I rode the canter circles too much with my hands and I'll have to pay closer attention next time. I think we did get some good strides and I quit before she got too exhausted, but I could feel her muscles tremble a bit when I let her walk.
Trot was pretty good, and we rode the circles better and started getting some good alignment/straightness. Overall though, we were both tired and sore and not at our best. I'm glad I worked her though, just to push us a little, and because now I'm catching some sort of dread cold...