Hot to trot.

Whoop whoop, what a good morning I've had :-)

I got them in and it was rainy and blowy, but I was anxious to get another session on the arena with Ace so that I could see if he really had broken through mentally with the trot.  The rain backed off a bit so I threw on his tack, which he was unconcerned about, and took him out there. I did have his exercise blanket on, though it as far too warm to need it, because it has always seemed to comfort him like a Linus blanket.

I led him to the block and he kicked his hind foot up towards me. I told him off and he looked apologetic. I went to get up and when I was about to swing my leg over, he moved off. It's always a puzzle to know what to do in that situation. Do you carry on swinging your leg over and possibly get caught by a buck in a very awkward situation. Or do you stand on one stirrup where you can easily step down again and make them halt. Or do you step down straight away.

 I chose the stand in the stirrup and stop him approach, which worked fine. The saddle had slipped a little once I sat in it, but he wasn't concerned and I put it right by stepping hard into the other stirrup. We walked off and he was happy and relaxed. After one circuit on each rein it started rainingg and was blowing hard. I anticipated trouble, so it took me a moment to realise that he was asking permission to trot.

In the wind and rain he trotted circles in each direction, then did walk/trot transitions and as I released the reins to finish, he stretched out into a glorious free walk on a long rein without even being asked to.

I have the biggest ever smile on my face today. One corner of my mouth is in Ireland and the other In Norfolk :-)

C