(no subject)

Rode inside again last night- did some more cavaletti, which Trudi handled clumsily, for the most part, but it still gets her really loose in the back and more active with her legs so I feel like she benefits even if she's not clean on each run. We just did a lot of work in general and her mediums were really good, and I was pleased that she was able to sit sometimes both going in and coming out of them. She even gave me 2 steps of accidental piaffe. We did a few strides of medium, I didn't let her swing out at the boogeyman corner, and so she tried to zip off afterward, but I happened to be really plugged into her back and I was not going to lose her back or her hind legs and I was not going to let her run off, so she sat down and did 2 steps of piaffe. It really surprised me and I just kind of let go and then went "Oh yeah- good girl". She was just glad to be outta there.
Cantered some octagons since my circles were getting really sloppy and found that it helped me focus and ride more assertively. Also realized my smart sneaky pony pops her inside shoulder by drifting inside and ignoring my inside leg so that I give up and use the outside rein to guide her back to the track- so I started making her move off the inside leg where she'd been blowing me off (which offended her - tough rocks, pony) and tried to remember to stretch that inside leg dooooown as if it's going aroooooound under her belly where she's likely to drift in. She's definitely getting stronger, but she's still a bit too hot- have to remind her that a walk does not need to look like fast forward on a VCR...