Elevator

Today, I had yet another lesson with E. I asked her if we could focus on trot-canter and canter-trot transitions, which have been our messiest area lately and something Limerick definitely tries to freight-train his way through. In fact, he pulled on me so badly at the beginning of my lesson that E switched us from the eggbutt snaffle to the elevator french-link. I had only used it once before (in August) and Limerick didn't seem to like it very much, so I was slightly nervous. However, it made a huge difference and effectively prevented him from leaning on the bit/pulling me forward, which was much appreciated :)

We started out asking for a balanced trot, getting him to listen to me, and then sitting and asking for the canter. Limmers is bouncy and his trot is hard to sit when I tense up, which I do when he starts his running trot thing. This makes it nearly impossible for me to ask for the canter again because I get bounced out of the tack and have to take time to regroup. She had me ask effectively and "block" him from running with my reins, all while keeping my elbows behind my shoulders and maintaining my position... A LOT to think about, but towards the end I got some pretty stellar transitions! The lesson left me frustrated, but looking back on it I realized that I was mostly frustrated with Limerick for being a lazy ass. All in all, I was pretty happy with how I rode and E was complimentary, which made me feel  good because she definitely doesn't hand them out if you don't deserve them. I also rode in my back brace today, something that I need to always remember to do (COLLYN). If I don't, I feel like I'm literally slamming into the saddle at the canter and get incredibly tense, so this is just a little reminder to myself to wear it at all times!

I'm riding tomorrow and Hill has a lesson, which I'll be taking pictures/videos of per usual. My next lesson is on Thursday, and it'll also be my last one before heading to France :o! Here are a ton of videos/screenshots from the lesson today, courtesy of my best friend in the whole wide world:

We both thought this one was funny :)

DOWNHILL MONSTER 

AND, here's video of a good portion of it :)