The car told me it was 11F (-12C) today, so dressed for the Arctic I arrived at the barn. Obviously, the temperature did nothing to cheer me up and I was pretty much grumbling to myself and to Remy, questioning my sanity. Nevertheless, I got on with it as I didn't want to come across as the "Cold Weather Wuss" I am (who am I kidding? everyone knows!), considering that Judy spends her days riding and teaching in worse temperatures than that.
I swear Remy picked up instantly on my attitude, and decided "well, if she is grumpy then there is no reason why I shouldn't be". He was fussy in the bridle, didn't want to go forward, threw in a baby buck when I whacked him with my (very soft) boots, and generally was a little stinker. He felt like he was just waiting for an opportunity to blow up.
Options were limited: (1) Either Remy scores and I bag it for the day, or (2) I hitch up my big girl pants and work through it. With Judy's encouragement "Vorwärts" we went, meaning "forward riding with purpose, on the aids, and with engagement". That way Remy had to focus on me, rather than contemplating some shenanigans. It worked beautifully, and we were able to finish up with a nice collected canter.
As I explained to a Judy afterwards: "A training session at work yesterday helped my riding today: An Ex-CIA agent covered dicey subjects such as extortion - so my little rebel without a cause was not getting the best of me!"
In response I could literally hear Remy purring: "Ah, but tomorrow is another day!"
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