Whoa, exciting times at the barn yesterday! Had tons of chores to do, and then took a lesson on Mandi.

Initially Mandi was a bit nervous when I took her out of her stall. There was a ton going on at the barn – few boarders tacking up and walking their horses down the aisle to ride outside, a lesson going on in the arena, and another rider riding around the perimeter of the barn. Mandi isn’t used to so much hustle and bustle, so she was on edge. She never did anything naughty or out of control, but she was a bit alarmed and tried to step forward in the cross ties a bit. In order to help her, I allowed her to move, but passively corrected her by moving her right back to her original spot. Once things quieted down she was fine.

I did longe her very lightly in our roundpen while waiting for our lesson. I don’t use that space often because I do find it a bit small, but Mandi actually liked it, and it seemed to relax her. So from there I took her to the arena and we started on our lesson.

We did a ton of trotting, and really worked on Mandi’s ability to bend – through her body. She very much just wants to brace her neck and plow along. So I was tasked with unlocking her neck, and her body. It was hard work. Physically, but really more mentally, which is why having a trainer there to keep encouraging is so helpful and priceless. So once she started getting it, even a miniscule amount, i’d give her freedom by loosening my contact and letting her stretch. A few times of that, and then a walk break, she licked and chewed and thought about it, and when I picked her back up in trot, I got a few more really good bends.

We then worked on the canter some, which was great. By then Mandi (and I) were pooped, so we did a  long cool out, playing on bend at the walk on the long rein.

All in all it was a great lesson. Mandi is a very sensible horse, and she tries real hard.