when things dont go as panned...you improvise!

I was supposed to have a lesson this evening with Dom, but something came up and I found myself all tacked up at the farm we were supposed to be meeting at, ready to XC school. My first instinct was well shoot, now we wont go out XC, but maybe we can hack out in the dressage arena or school just to practice that.

All dressed up and no where to go

I am glad we did because miss mare in heat was looky and felt quit similar to how she does at a show. I instantly was sad I didnt have Dom or C there to coach me through it, but I did my best and just tried myself not to get sucked into the tension. Tillie felt a bit on the slower side...which with how humid and hot it is here, I cant say I blame her.

The bugs are soooooo annoying Tillie says

Despite her initial tension, Tillie went well in the dressage arena. She gave me really accurate leg yields and our walk canter walk transitions were on point!!! I am hoping our dressage lesson with C tomorrow will prove it! She was still a bit on the "lazy" side for Tillie but when she rides like this I LOVE it because I feel comfortable adding leg and riding the forward I try to ride otherwise, but shes already forward (but not really in front of my leg).

#mareface

I was almost willing to just stay in the ring, but a few barn members I know well suggested just hacking out XC and just taking it real easy (which was fine by me since I chose to put her snaffle on not really expecting to XC school).

Look closely in the upper left and youll see a pig Tillie reallllly wasnt sure about

We started off trotting a few intro/BN jumps and Tillie was quite eager on the take off, but nice and quiet on landing. I was pleasantly surprised and really tried to reward her by being soft and letting  my reins loop if she was uphill. When Tillie isnt uphill, she feels like a snowball rolling down the hill gaining speed...but she felt nice and consistent!

Trying one of the larger fences after warming up

I focused on relaxing my knee and thighs too when she gave me the nice moments and really tried not to freak out about why she was being sooo good. I fully expected the snaffle to be an issue and her require us to circle or take things reallly slow. But she just did her job and felt like a been there done that horse.

Unfortunately for me,  I have PTSD remember? So my initial reaction was something was wrong and really wasnt enjoying myself as much as i should have been and was constantly trying to look or feel for something to tell me to pull her up.

When your horse takes the flier off a down bank

I felt so good I even did a few down banks!!! Even when she took the flier to the one, I felt ok and solid (even when falling a bit forward on landing). I was enjoying how soft she was so much, but scared something was wrong, I even took her temperature when we got home. It was normal...god forbid my horse is actually becoming trained like the obvious answer **roll eyes**

I know I am ridiculous...I just always worry!!

Anyway, here is the short video from a few of the jumps we did: