Tuesday

Keystone:
walk/trot/canter, no stirrups posting trot--1st time and felt strong and good--key was looking fine. Also bareback canter with the purpose of engaging hind quarters to help him get canter back where it used to be. New plan: one day a week (or 2?) no stirrups for my strength, one day with canter concentration for Key. One dressage lesson leading to finesse.

I am VERY excited that I felt so strong in the no stirrups--no sense of having to adjust to something new. Also I am glad that I can focus on other things in his bareback canter which does not yet feel as good as with Try.

Try:
groom, graze, shower, walk w/Try back to her pasture--she didn't want to be there as the only other horses outside were far away, so we walked back to the barn so she could be with the group. Also on line: circling game--send and bring back almost from intention AND I found I can stick to her from the center of the circle and if I do a big immediate halt so does Try. This has some great possibilities.

liberty: I don't exactly remember what we did--stream of consciousness--this n that. I like liberty as it feels the most like play and hang out time of all the savvies.  

riding: Well I should not have tried this as I was too tired and flies were awful. BUT after liberty play, with bareback pad, I stepped up on the pedestal and Try offered to sidepass to me--right over the pedestal so I figured what the heck and mounted--Try then just sidepassed off the pedestal. GGG So there we were bareback and bridleless after 5 days off, flies bad and I still had spurs on. Try had lots of go but it was ok. We repeated HQ figure 8 with lots of repeated big HQ yields. Also did Marie's pattern: walk on rail, halt turn to rail, sidepass and then turn on the haunches away. Also we cantered around the outside of the round corral.