Trit Trot And Lean On Back

This week in my lesson we really worked on the trot and my position.  I have develop a terrible perch.  Dressage trainer kept telling me to lean back, lean back, lean back more.  I felt like I was half way to his haunches and I was finally upright.  Oops.  The good thing is Stinker has a strong preference for me to ride correctly (shocking) so he quickly tattles.  But even without the help of mirrors if I pay attention he will let me know when I start perching.

Socks would happily stalk and bark at me

We really started making progress with the trot transitions.  He tends to pop up and hollow for all transitions and for a long time I was unable to do more than a couple, because he would get frazzled and I would lose his brain.  Now, he still gets nervous but as long as I keep telling him good boy he keeps trying.  I really loves how much this horse tries for me.  He is so expressive you can feel him go "this is really hard" or "I am not sure what you want from me."  But he keeps trucking along and trying for me.

The ride-ability is also really improving.  I am able to get him to step up under with his hind, maneuver his shoulders, and really access all sections of his body.  I can't really believe he has come as far as he has considering his physical issues and my lack of experience with dressage.  Not to mention dressage trainer actually expressed interest in getting on him one day.  With the exception of D, she is the first person that has actually asked if she can ride him.  Hopefully it will happen soon because I think it will be very enlightening for all three of us.