Despite the heat I was looking forward to trailering Saumur to a lesson with Sandy today, the first time since the accident. Sandy is healing well, she has physical therapy several times a week with good results. Saumur has been going well at home so I was eager - and yes, a bit apprehensive, too - to see how he would be back in Sandy's indoor arena.
I am VERY HAPPY that everything went well, neither Sandy nor Saumur seemed to relive the trauma. Sandy fed Saumur sugar in the area where they fell, which I found quite touching. We had a very good lesson, focusing on precision. At first glance that seems pretty easy, but it is darn hard (at least for me). One exercise was having Saumur in a shoulder for at the halt, keep it in the walk, and then canter off without the haunches swinging in. Saumur is now at a stage of his training where he is very 'tuned' to the slightest aids, which of course will backfire when the rider (uh, me!) is not precise.
Saumur did not spook once, despite the side doors of the arena being open. He was supple and relaxed, and we finished on a good note.
While the heat did not seem to bother Saumur, my Nordic ancestors did not do me any favors when it comes to dealing with the sun. Very fair skin, blond hair and blue eyes allow for more sunlight to penetrate the body (and thus producing more vitamin D) which is great for living in Northern Europe, but definitely does not jive with 100F heat waves in Michigan. On the other hand, Chambord definitely does not have any vikings in his pedigree, and still gets sunburned. Pass the SPF 50 sunblock, please!
Luckily Luanne beat me to re-scheduling our saddle fitting session for Remy today. Even with the best of intentions I could not envision myself in our outdoor arena in the scorching sun, trying out saddles. Note to credit card: you have a reprieve until Sunday!
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