Week Recap

The day after the clinic I had one of my best rides ever on Cupid, the canter has never felt better!  Especially to the right, but the left was pretty good too.  I thought about bending him a little to the outside into the transition, which did feel like a true counterbend to me but my trainer said we were just straight.  We still aren't getting it 100%; we got it the first try, but then the next time it took a few attempts.  Still an improvement though.

Cupid got a well-deserved day off on Wednesday.

On Thursday we struggled a bit.  I'm not sure if it was the weather (raining again) or what.  We did a short canter on the right but it didn't feel great, so I told my trainer I'd rather not even try to the left because I want us set up for success, and create good muscle memory.  So we took a little walk break and refocused and had some good trot work.  Cupid was feeling a little more himself by the end.

Cupid saw the chiropractor after our lesson, which I was hoping would help.  She made some adjustments on his neck, and said his pelvis was tight.  He also had a spot of inflammation on his back - not from the saddle but probably just tweaked himself playing out in the pasture.  The chiropractor said he looked good otherwise, and said his hind leg flexibility (pulling his leg under his belly) was better.

At the chiropractor's recommendation I didn't ride on Friday, but did ground driving instead.

On Saturday I was optimistic we would have a good lesson.  It actually was pretty good, despite the busy arena, but we were not able to get the left lead at all.  I'm not sure why, I thought I was keeping Cupid straight but even when the transition felt good he kept picking up the right lead.  It left me feeling a little confused because I didn't think there was much I could do differently.  However I did have a revelation when Cupid got quick or distracted by all the activity in the arena, all I had to do was slide my inside hand forward a bit and he would stretch down and get steady again!

I'm in Tahoe for a ski trip so Cupid is getting a few days off.  I am really looking forward to riding him tomorrow!!