Mediums

Good thing Cupid and I have been improving responsiveness off the leg, because in our lesson today we worked towards medium gaits. 

The exercise was to trot a 10 meter circle in the corner, sitting and with a bit of shoulder fore feel, then come out of it into a medium trot halfway down the long side, before collecting into another circle.  Then we did a few from the small circle into a short diagonal.

The good news is the small circles felt pretty good.  I think down the line collections are going to be easier then extensions for Cupid and me, he's just a compact little horse with a low set neck and his natural way of going is more daisy cutter.  But I have a bad habit of shoving my hands forward when I want Cupid to move out, which is so counterproductive!  I've been holding the girth loop on my saddle pad with my outside hand to help keep it in place.

We're not at true mediums yet, and I do lose the roundness sometimes but the last few felt like progress.

In the canter we just worked on lengthening and shortening on a 20 meter circle, then around the arena lengthening on the long sides.  The working canter feels super, but I wasn't feeling enough difference in the lengthenings.  Part of the problem is that my hips are a bit locked. 

I was really happy at the end when we went to do some stretching trot to feel that not only was Cupid stretching his neck down (which at home he is always happy to do), but he was really pushing from behind and stepping under himself.  He felt both powerful and light at the same time!  So we must have been doing something right during the rest of the ride!