Temper tantrums - and thinking warm thoughts

Starting out Remy felt really good, soft, supple and on the aids. Quite a feat in 15F, and no turnout before the lesson. Judy worked hard on having us tuned up enough so we can fend for ourselves during the next 10 days. I told her that I'll ride with my imaginary Jude coach on the shoulder, stern voice in my ear saying things like "corner! corner! you missed the corner! forward! keep him round and coming from behind! You need a good canter for clean changes!..."

It was such a nice ride with good changes (note to self: going right to left keep the stick in the left hand for a small tap) that I never thought something might be "im Busch" ("lurking in the bushes").  All I wanted to do is finish with a nice forward trot. Remy apparently wanted to finish WITHOUT the nice forward trot. Just after C he got startled (JP said it was a loud bang from the outside), came too close to one of the arena markers and he hit it with his hind foot. Well, why waste a perfectly good excuse for a temper tantrum, Remy said. He humped up, bucked and tried to take off. Luckily (for me) he wasn't 100% committed to the bad boy act. After another -rather half-hearted- effort we went back to work and sure enough, we ended with a nice forward trot. Score one for Birgit!

After the very inspiring Advanced Masterson Training I am motivated to move on. But no use starting fieldwork when your fingers are freezing off - let alone when only a tractor gets you to the barn. For right now I'll review my material (preferably in the sauna) and think warm thoughts of  heatstroke in Arizona.

The week just flew by 

San Xavier del Bac