This week should have come with a big warning sign

"Attention - The Surgeon General warns: This Is Highly Addictive" would have been the appropriate warning for this week.

JP and I spent another very pleasant morning at Betsy's farm (without encountering any Amish carriage mishap on the way).  I am just amazed at the precision and work ethic of everybody involved. I also remembered Dudley, the donkey, from my previous visit - and this time again his voice made his presence known. Liz took me to see him, he is just a lover boy, very cuddly and soft like your favorite plush toy.  More drooling over the fantastic horses followed.

In the afternoon it was our turn, Saumur got to go first. As previously, George had us work on improving the individual movements, and then focused on the flying changes. Key is to move Saumur away from the leg in the new direction, i.e. changing from left to right he has to yield to my right leg. We had good, clean changes! It was quite an intense session, but again Saumur was noticeably happy and proud afterwards (me, too, despite the dripping sweat and indigestion).

The indigestion came from our stop in the town of Burton, on the way back from Betsy's. We discovered a cute diner, resembling a 1950s throwback. The fries were just too good to pass! I usually live on salad and/or yogurt for lunch, so needless to say, I shouldn't have had a large lunch before riding -

I got a break with Remy, in that George wanted to ride him first again to work more on the canter. George patiently guided Remy through the right lead canter, and every time Remy lost his balance, he calmly made a transition. By the time I got on, Remy felt awesome. For the first time, we could maintain the canter on both leads, and wow, I must have had a big grin on my face. The trot work afterwards was wonderful, too. Quite the progress in a short period of time. George said that Remy is very smart, which of course, made my 'mother heart' swell to unknown proportions.

Two more lessons tomorrow, and then we are heading home. Due to George's schedule the lessons have to be in the afternoon, so we'll stay another night and hit the road early Saturday morning. It will give us time to explore rural Ohio a bit more tomorrow. Bummer, Paddock Saddlery, the nice upscale tack store that used to be in Chagrin Falls, has closed. I just don't think I'll find my luck in "Yoder's Harness Shop".