Bounce!

Cupid and I had 4 lessons last week, and he was very good throughout the week. We had our first bounce exercise - three jumps set so there is stride in between. Cupid figured it out right away! He has been relaxed going into jumps, not rushing. We also played with coming into a jump from different directions/angles. Since Cupid has been so good I've been trying to focus on some things I need to work on - sitting up straighter going into the jump, not jumping ahead, keeping my legs from swinging back, and not pushing my hands down. Yes I have a lot of things I need to work on!

The flatwork has been going good as well. We are managing to get the correct canter leads both directions most of the time and are working on improving the transition. I'm working on making sure I'm more relaxed myself, when I get tense I squeeze my things and pitch forward. It can be a vicious cycle when Cupid starts getting a little fussy I tense up, which makes him more tense and so on. I've found that a long slow exhale helps me a lot.
The weather has been nice and Cupid is shedding his winter coat. He got a bath on Saturday. I don't think he's going to be as dark as he was last year, since he lives outside now. Since we worked so hard this week on Sunday we took it easy and went on a little trail ride. He was perfect.