Guest Rider

Yesterday one of my trainer's working students rode Cupid after my lesson.  Other than my sister no one else has rode him in quite a while.  It took them a few minutes to get used to each other, Cupid was fussing with his head at first but then settled down.  It was fun watching him go, though also a bit nerve-wracking for me!  (I'm a little protective...)  The girl is a pony clubber, and a lot more confident than me!  After a little flat work she asked if she could do some jumps.  I told her if she was comfortable go ahead.  They did very well, just one run out on a three stride combo.  Cupid tried ducking out with me on that same line but I was able to get him back on track instead of just let him take control.  Then we put the jumps up a little, I think they finished at around 2'6".

Cupid being a good boy for his guest rider.

My lesson prior went very well.  Cupid has been very responsive, and I'm becoming more focused and organized.  Apparently I have a bad tendency to stand up over jumps instead of folding forward, so I'm trying to work on that.  We started by jumping the little three stride combo, first as a pole to a jump then raised the pole to a small crossrail.  Then we added a little brush box after that, in kind of a figure 8 pattern.  Then we added the barrel jump, which was next to the brush box so jumped, landed and circled around to the barrels.  I didn't hesitate so neither did Cupid. :)  I was very happy with our lesson.

On my non-lesson days I spent one day in my dressage saddle working primarily on our transitions.  The halts still need work, I think I'll have my trainer help me with that at our next session.  I also went on a nice little trail ride.  We took it easy and mainly just walked and enjoyed the view.

View from Cupid's back

We watched the fog roll over the ocean