Progress

 I mentioned before that I was struggling getting Karma to utilize her hind and stretch to the contact. I decided to try her in the bands to see if that would encourage her to figure out what I was looking for. Going to the right she picked it up really quickly. Going to the left it was a different story.

I was really wishing I knew of a body work person I could have out, because she tends to twist and do weird things and it is probably stems from a restriction somewhere. Without having that, I figured the next best thing would be to encourage even the slightest hint of a stretch.

Will do anything for a carrot

With the assistance of carrots, it only took a couple of sessions for her to figure out what I wanted her to do and once I got it on the ground she immediately took to it under the saddle. Of course that immediately showed me I need to maintain better core tone because she has a lot more push from behind now. I still haven't taken more video, but she feels so much better under saddle. I am hopeful the feeling will be reflected in the video once I get around to taking it.

Road Wanderings

 The one day I was driving to the barn from a different direction than I normally come. I thought I knew where I was, but I wasn't on the road I thought I was on and missed the turn I should have taken. I realized I didn't know where I was and popped the address into the GPS. It ended up taking me down a dirt road which kicked me out not too far from the barn.

So obviously I decided to drag Karma on an adventure and road her down the dirt road. I walked her down the 55 mph paved section because I do have enough self preservation to make a few good decisions. She was pretty nervous to start and it wasn't helped by the fact she immediately had to cross a bridge, which was deeply suspicious.

Despite the sticky start and many many nervous poops by the time I wanted to turn around she had settled into a nice marching walk. On the way back she was relaxing more and gaining some confidence. She can be spooky, but as I build up her confidence I am seeing less and less of that behavior. It was a much needed outing for my sanity, because I miss my trails so much.