So long, summer

Trudi's in shedding mode- I forget how tired it makes her. I got on and it was like, put my leg on- nothing. Plod, plod. Eventually I got her moving at a slightly more regular and stretching plod, did some suppling, and felt like her back was better than it's been- more solid. I think she gained a bit of weight this summer and it looks good (Maybe done growing? And she ate sooo much hay at the show -- On the trailer? Eat! Done with our class? Eat! Going home? Eat!). The extra padding probably makes her more comfortable. I want to really address her trouble spots- just in front of and behind the withers, and so I've been experimenting with trying to drive her more into the bridle- more steady leg, and trying to stretch my long legs around her and under her belly to get her to pull her tummy in and her back up (I don't think my legs actually go THAT far, it's just how it feels). On me I'm trying to keep my shoulders back (and I need to look up more). Trot was actually fantastic, best trot work I've ever done. We had the slower tempo and I managed to get her connected and balanced for several strides at a time- she felt foursquare and solid- very cool. I managed to get her on a circle and still keep the four corners of her body just where I wanted them, and because she didn't want to rush, there was time to get things where they needed to be without going SPLAT. I was so darn happy to have a circle to the right where she stayed balanced and kept the tempo with no rushing, or popping her head up, or falling through a shoulder... We did some spirals and some halfsteps to lengthenings and I felt like it was giving her a good workout. I almost let her go without doing any canter, then figured I better do some- and it wasn't great- she felt tired, but I could still feel the extra control from getting her body parts organized.