Pivotal

As I walked back up to my barn from the outdoor arena on Saturday, my barnmate asked, "How was your ride?" I laughed with delight as I said "I bet you could hear me yelling 'Holy s***' and 'OMG!' and 'What a good pony!' from here!"

Last week's lesson is proving to be absolutely pivotal. In the rides since, I start the ride out doing the HI/HO on a 20m circle, establishing control of (and awareness of) the hind legs, as well as rebutting every attempt he makes to initiate both movements with the right fore. This requires me to pay attention to the inside leg and maintain enough contact with the outside rein (without pulling). We continue to get closer and closer to being able to do this without the front feet changing course.

Meatloaf visited the outdoor with me for the first time. No she's not pooping, I just caught her mid-sit apparently.

We spend less and less time each ride establishing both, and then we move on to other things, and when we move onto those other things, they're just...there. Is this the reason I've always found this horse so hard to ride? Straightness?