(no subject)

Good ride last night actually- I opted for the round pen (shallow footing) and it was the right decision. The sun had gone down but there was a moon- not full, but bright enough to see our shadow. I think Trudi feels pretty safe in the roundpen- it has high, solid walls (hubby calls it the Colosseum) so there is nothing scary to see. Still just walk/trot because I feel a bit claustraphobic (oh, how I long for the day when we can consistently school the canter), but I asked her to be really really up in her back, and she worked very well and tried very hard. She's funny to listen to- she gives little grunts of effort and huffs and puffs. :) Going to the left, the left hind likes to trail and the right hind doesn't really help us out, and she likes to travel with her shoulders out. So we did some bending, and then some straightening of her body with the outside rein (which resulted in almost counterbending, but not quite) and then some rising trot where I would give leg as I rose, which is sort of hard for me but really swings that inside hind over toward the outside and farther under her body.
To the right she was really soft and good except for a stiff place near her left flank (likely this is largely responsible for the left hind laziness when traveling left) and she was very good about maintaining her tempo and energy without rushing even as I was suppling her in the stiff parts of her body. Much love for my pony.
Not a challenging ride in terms of environment or movements, but very good physical challenge which she rose to beautifully.