Dressage Lesson #18

Who put a quarter in Axel tonight? Please put one in him every day! Tricia was a bit late as she was tending to her dog that got caught in a trap (she's fine though). I grabbed a lead rope and halter and did a tiny bit of ground work with Axel. I couldn't get him to bend this time but he did the unwinding thing on the first try. I groomed him but this time of year it's kind of pointless, it just ends up making them look dirtier the more you brush. I walked him around a bit and watched Steph work with the kids while I waited. When Tricia arrived we worked on the road end of the pasture and just stuck to an arena shape, no fancy patterns. I dunno if it's the new saddle or the longer warmup or just a fluke, but Axel moved out. He extended his trot for once and I was able to post the trot like a normal person. He needed very little encouragement to keep going and was really rounding and bending properly. He actually even gave me a couple canters. Ok, so it was on the wrong lead and we couldn't make our corner but a canter is like light years faster than his normal speed so we went with it. Still struggling with the sitting trot but it'll get there. I think my legs will be sore tomorrow, not from kicking this time though but from trying to cue properly for the turns. So a big gold star for Axel tonight!

This past weekend we decided that next August Axel and I are going to do the Pine Meadows Schooling Show. We'll probably do intro dressage. So we have a little under a year to prepare. Hehe. I can't wait to get him all spiffed up for a show.

Stephanie was working with Kalani in the round pen doing some long lining. She probably had him working for an hour or more when she yelled something down to Tricia and I. We look up at the round pen and Kalani is laying on the ground. Apparently she asked him to do something and he couldn't figure out what it was she wanted and so he just layed down. He ended up laying there for a good 5-10 minutes before getting up and going back to work. Tricia was laughing so hard. Hopefully Axel didn't pick up any hints from Kalani, that's the last thing I need is him laying down in the middle of a lesson!