Meltdown part 2

(FYI this is a scheduled post. "today" = Tuesday 12/29/09)

I admit I was a wee bit trepidacious as I stepped into the stirrup this afternoon. After 2 weeks off, Minx would have bolted as soon as I put weight in the stirrup, perhaps throwing in some 360 rearing pivots, just to keep things interesting. Farley sighed and stepped off.

This was my first arena ride since the melt down during the lesson. There was a glorious trail ride the day after, and then 2 weeks of....nothing....due to work issues.

I was a bit nervous. The last ride ended so badly. How much of the dressage work did she remember after 2 weeks? Were we (me and trainer) able to end the lesson on a good enough note that she wouldn't resist when I asked her to go to work?

The ride today was just to push buttons and see if they worked. Where were we?

I asked for a walk. She took the connection immediately down and over without fussing. She's NEVER done that. I signalled for a trot, and although it was a bit rusty, there it was. Again, good connection without any nagging from me. Now for the real test. The canter transition was a bit rough, but there. Picked up the correct lead the first time going both directions. The canter was....ehh...a bit rough. But she wasn't fighting me either.

I tried to school her at the canter a bit, asking for a bit more bend. She started to rush and be a bit tense. I backed off, played a little more and then quit.

I was going to slowly trot on a loose rein to cool down, then walk, but Farley decided to she wanted to canter. Why not? After all she was offering. She took off on a nice easy left lead canter (her "bad" side), made a couple of laps, then came to the center of the arena and stopped. "Time to get off" she seemed to say. I laughed, dismounted and gave her a big pat.

The buttons were there and they were working better now, than before her vacation.

So what have I learned?