Happy Birthday Cupid!!

It's hard to believe Cupid turned 8 today!  Time flies when you're having fun, and we sure have had some good times together!

Awaiting his grain with extra birthday treats!

I callously made Cupid work even though it was his birthday :p  We had a lesson.  He was surprisingly on the lazy side even though he stayed in his stall the day before due to the weather, and the wind was howling and rain beating on the roof during our ride.  He made me work for it a bit, but he felt really good!  I asked my trainer about the toe drag, and she said even just standing he is sinking almost hoof deep in the footing.  He still had the drag marks, but she said he was moving well, and again tracking up perfectly.

The main focus in our lessons continues to be improving the roundness.  We do a lot of shoulder-in to help with that.  My trainer still tells me pretty constantly to shorten my reins, but I'm getting better about it and starting to develop a feel.  We also did a bit of leg-yielding.  The first one off the left leg was sticky, as is often the case, but was good after a little tap with the whip.

I also had to utilize the whip a little in the canter work, as Cupid broke once cantering on the left.  We had a decent transition into it on a 20 meter circle, went all the way around the arena with a slight outside bend on the long sides, but then coming out of corner starting the second lap we hit a slightly deeper patch of footing which is where he broke.  So, as my trainer had suggested, I tapped him with the whip to remind him that is not what we want, put him back on a circle and picked up the canter again and completed the second lap.  Overall the left lead canter is feeling better balanced, though the transitions into and out of it are still not quite as smooth as to the right. 

I'm optimistically hoping we get a break from the rain this weekend, in which case we are going to go on a trail ride!