Saturday afternoon lesson

This Saturday morning Other Dad came early and put us out to graze. Dad brought me in to be groomed and tacked up after a few hours at 11.00.

I wore my snaffle, dressage saddle and white exercise boots and Liz came for lesson at noon. We began work in walk concentrating on getting round by getting my hind legs under me and moving forward into the bridle, rather than just using the hand. We did lots of leg-yield and shoulder-in and inside leg into outside rein.

We went up into trot after I became rounder on both reins. We found this much harder and sometimes had to return to walk to regain softness. We even went large in trot and crossed the diagonal. It was fun going down the long side in trot taking the rein down a little with Dad trying to ride me between hand and leg for some of the time.

With some breaks to stretch on a long rein, we finished the session by working on a slow sitting trot and taking 9 or 10 steps of controlled canter on both reins. Dad needed to use his inside leg and a gentle flexion to gain roundness when I stuck my nose out. He needed not to lean back too much in going into canter or generally not to lean forward too much or to let me go too fast and onto the forehand at any stage.

Dad needed to give me clearer aids and to ensure there was a consistent contact and to remember to use the outside rein rather than overuse the inside rein. We both had a lot to work on but the session showed some improvement and everyone was pleased.

After the lesson I had an apple and mints and was groomed before rejoining Dibby in the field. We stayed out until 5.00 and came in to be groomed, have Tecsin applied and have tea. After a disappointing week for us both, Dad and I were pleased to have had beneficial treatment from Halina and a constructive and encouraging lesson. Even cobs need cheering up from time to time.