On Saturday we had great lessons. Remy surprised both Judy
and me by being just the attentive student. JP is always rooting for Remy, so he
was gloating. Saumur was very good, too. I have to stop marveling on how well
he deals with the indoor arena, and focus on our work. While warming up I overheard
Judy telling another student “hips before the shoulders”. As my shoulders are
still (uh, yes) a problem, I repeated “hips before shoulders” in my mind while
riding Saumur. It sure worked!
When I have two lessons back to back JP is grooming and also
observing my lessons. It is really interesting and helpful to get his feedback.
He relates what Judy is saying (that I can’t hear when I am on the other side
of the arena) and also what he notices. For example, he pointed out that I don’t
seem to take the advice of “talk to him” (talking to the horse, i.e. to slow
down, or for encouragement) too well. JP also noted that overall my position is
getting better – yay!!
Sunday I reciprocated for the grooming and went on a
trailride with JP. Although – it was a different kind of trailride: JP was
riding Chambord, and Teddy and I were keeping up with them. Turns out, Teddy
and I can easily outwalk Chambord! Quite a work out, though, and Teddy was
clearly tired on the way home. His short legs had a lot of moving to do. After
that warm up I drove to Judy’s and worked Remy. What a good boy: In the high
winds some part of the roof came lose, producing
a lot of sudden and sharp noises. Remy did not take this as an excuse the act
up, for which I praised him lavishly. I really didn’t want to ‘baptize’ the
floor of the indoor arena just yet!
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