Heavy.

This is going to be a bit of a catch-up entry. Last week was a bit of a light week for both me and Selten. Partially by design, also partially by my guilt over breaking my trainer's bridle. Yes, I realize that it is just a bridle, and the important thing is that Selten is OK. I'm not going to try to defend it, so let's just let it rock and move on. Cool?

Cool.

My rides were OK, I suppose, but they were characterized by a single word: heavy. He wanted me to carry his head, and I tried everything I could think of to get him off his forehand and sitting again. Halt to reinback to forward again, trot halt, walk/canters, etc, and none of it worked. I'm trying to figure out why. The only things I can think of are that 1) I wasn't demanding enough impulsion. 2) I was stiff in my upper body, 3) I was curling my wrists and not giving him the inside rein. My trainer rode him today, and when I asked how he was, I got pretty much exactly the response I was anticipating:"A little heavy at first, then very good." My plan for this week in my lessons is to understand what it was I was doing wrong last week, and start training more effective corrections. As for last week, the positives I'm going to take from the experiences is:

• That I was able to recognize he was too heavy.
• That I actually tried to do something about it.
• That I now know exactly why you don't let them scratch their face with the bridle on.
• That my horse is a saint.

Continuing with the positives, tomorrow, the Bridle Suite will be coming out and I will be buying a new bridle (well... two), and SOME. NEW. FRIGGIN'. RIDING. BOOTS. Now, I'm not gonna blame my equipment... but I'm gonna blame my equipment. I hate how it feels to be riding in my winter boots. The fit more like muck boots, (which, well... they are) and I don't have the same feel with my foot and thigh in the stirrup as I do when I'm weearing riding boots. At the very least, it's been distracting, and at the very worst, I feel like for sure my lower leg has been far too busy. Being back in proper riding boots will at the very least remove that excuse. Then, tomorrow, the saddle fitter will be out, because Selten's put on so much topline already that the saddle needs to be re-flocked.

#humblebrag

Well, not really. Credit for that really should go to Christine, not me. She's been riding him more, and I've just been doing my best to not fuck up her hard work when I ride. So after Thursday, there will be absolutely no excuses, or equipment to blame. If there are problems, they will clearly exist between the saddle and reins. I mean, that's where they've always been. So really, nothing will be different, I'll just have shiny new tack.