(no subject)

It's been a long break, but I finally went out and rode. The weather was lovely today, it got up to 50 degrees and melted a lot of snow. I free lunged Trudi for about 10 minutes before I got on- she was kind of wiggly and spooky but seemed to get it out of her system quickly. My riding was pretty crappy at the beginning, but it got better. Trudi was really great. She seemed refreshed but was steadier and it felt like she was really stepping under well with her hind end. I started thinking about how in every movement we do, and every adjustment I make, I want to bring her hind legs under more and to flex her joints more, and use that to make her rounder. She responded really well to this, and it was most obvious in the trot after I cantered her. She didn't rush (because the canter was good, so the transition was good, so the trot was good...and well, so on) and when she got slow and I thought "more foreward" I simultaneously thought "...by getting the hind legs to step forward more strongly". It worked and the trot got more forward without being harder to sit (Can I get a w00t?). The canter was really good too- we only cantered once each way but she was very balanced, again, not rushing, and she did some great spiraling on the circle. I started to try and use too much leg, which made her quick, and instead found that just shifting my weight was enough to cue her. Trudi, you go girl. ^_^