So brave!!

 Oh, I'm so proud of us! We've come such a long way. And there's a bit of sadness to it too, because... gosh darnit... I finally feel like Lyric and I have created a trusting relationship and can start doing happy things that aren't so hard, and... shortly... I'll be off for surgery and then she'll sit for two months. And...what if she falls apart again? What if we lose our confidence? But... I'm sure it will come back. And maybe the rest will do her good. It's in God's hands. I'll just pray that it's good for us both and we come back just as strong and can keep building on it. 

I had a jump lesson today and decided to bring Lyric so we didn't lose momentum. Plus, Funny and I jumped last week and are going to Aiken to school XC Friday, so I figured it would be a good day to jump Lyric. And I"m glad I did. 

We ended up lessoning in the morning instead of the evening and since Laura couldn't make it, I got to lesson with Mackenzie. She rode Finn for Barbara. And Barbara hung out. So it was fun! Mackenzie and I are so alike. We were both chatty and talking back. Ha ha. We both were delusional in our body positions... "I am!".... But no... no, we were not. Ha ha. And then I got lost in what the course was... and then she wanted a ground line. Ha ha. After our lesson she asked Jacel to clarify something because "I know you are correct, but my brain needs convincing". ha ha. I laughed and said we were indeed the same person! And then later she joked that it was a fun lesson despite us sharing one brain cell for it. Hee hee. But really, we both did great! Mostly. :) Once we stopped talking and started riding. ha ha. We were having too much fun chatting that Jacel had to clear her throat and tell us to quit chatting and start warming up. Ha ha.. Yes ma'am. :) 

We did some of the same exercises that we did last time. Two trot poles to a small vertical. And trotting fences is hard! I started off "rowing" with my hands. I think I was trying to keep a connection and "hold Lyric's hand" but then be giving and following, and.. I ended up rowing. Ugh. So then Jacel told me to put my hands together. Which... my instinct was like "but I need wide hands because Liz has been telling me wide hands on Funny and I lose Lyrics shoulders and....". But I did it. Because I'm a teachers pet. And.. it worked! It forced me to ride her body and ride with my seat and legs vs my hands. And it kept me from getting in her face. It wasn't that I was pulling, but... I kind of was. I was "taking back" enough that it was shutting her down a tiny bit. Enough to shorten her neck and make her jump not quite as pretty. So when I rode her barrel... leg yielding her into my turns with my inside leg and supporting outside rein and then keep the engine with the outside leg.. I didn't need to kick or cluck or push with my hands. I didn't need to "row". I was just able to follow. And she could use her neck and thus her body better. I need to essentially ride her the same as Funny but for different reasons. Ride the barrel!

So after we did that a few times then we did a "football". We trotted into the cavaletti oxer and then cantered out and at the other end of the "football" shape, we jumped a small oxer. Again... put my hands together, leave her face alone, and ride her barrel. She was jumping so nicely and out of stride!! No more hesitating or peeking. 

Then we did the centerline grid. It was a trot in... bounce, one stride, then a three stride. We started with just the bounce and then added the two oxers. And at first it was okay, but then it got a bit scary because she came in weak. It's a hard balance to keep her trotting and not breaking into the canter, but also having enough energy to get the bounce and the one stride. Bigger trot then! Well duh.. but it's hard to get a bigger trot without a canter sometimes. But.. it really wasn't. And I did it. And it was way better. So then she added a bigger oxer at the end and I asked if I could canter in. I probably should have figured out how to ride well enough to make it work, but... it's hard. Jacel said a canter was fine if I didn't run. And we didn't. And Lyric was so good! She was so brave and jumping out of stride. The first time I thought she was going to take the flyer and jumped a stride early but she still jumped. The next, and every other, time I waited with my body but was supportive and she was able to take the normal stride vs adding. YAY!! But then we started drifting right. A hard right drift. Jacel told me to squeeze with both legs! She noticed that I was being a bit weak in my right leg, thus allowing the drift. And lo and behold.. it worked. When I closed both legs, she went straight. Which... to give myself some grace, I thought I was closing both legs. But clearly not, because once I did... she went straight. :) 

So then we did a fun diagonal slicing line. We did the little cavaletti, then sliced the oxer in the middle of the grid, then the other cavaletti.. then back around and the small vertical on an angle, to angling the middle oxer again, and out over the other cavaletti. And Lyric was so good! I didn't get the best approach to the small vertical so she had to put in the add stride but because I was balanced and she had energy because I rode her around my inside leg into the outside rein and sent her forward through the turn, she did pull a rail but didn't hesitate and then kept going bravely to the oxer. GOOD GIRL! Such a huge difference to 6 months ago. 

We quit with that because it was a hard lesson and she was so good. I'm sooo proud of us. YAY!!