A different horse

I can always feel Lise's eyes on us when I ride, but more often now there's a smile too. Toby is so tuned and so responsive. Our circles are getting smaller, he's giving a lot faster and tighter when I ask for flexion. His stops are getting lower and deeper, I'll have to braid his tail next. His straight lines are getting straighter. When he ducks or wobbles I straighten him and if he resists that or collection we circle to get rid of resistance and then off we go, straight and true. His two tracking is responsive to my seat and his transitions are getting more collected. Baby rollbacks are calming down.

His main stress right now is being collected, preparing to lope off from a standstill. He fusses and moves his hindquarters - those turn on the forehands for our exams spoilt that - so I finish with lots of standing and walk/halt transitions.

Also today we started making walk spirals to the point of crossover. If he wanted to spin he could come in after 3 or 4 rounds and he did want to. He was soft and supple and just angelic. My best simile is like a knife through butter. It was that easy for him.

It's the stops that are the most exciting but each piece of his training that comes together is mega satisfying.