Moving

 After my impulse lesson, I impulsively asked if there were any open stalls and the cost. Quick mental math made me realize that if I moved, the cost of not hauling in for lessons would make up the board difference fairly easily. So I am officially in a dressage barn for the first time ever.

Happily hanging out in her stall

Karma made the move quite easily. I adore how adaptable she is. Her requirements are "Am I fed?" and "Can I see horses?" if those are met she is just fine. I feel bad because we have bounced around a bit, but I think this place is going to stick (unless I get a wild hair and move again).

More Bob pictures because I don't have Karma pictures

It is a nice small place. There are 8 or so horses on the property. The indoor is the size of a small dressage court and the outdoor is a large dressage court. There are letters in both and a booth with flowers at the letters in the outdoor. The BO has great attention to detail and communicates well.

I had no idea what was planted in my yard so I get pretty surprises

So now I am getting regular in person lessons, my virtual lessons, and I have two more trips planned to virtual trainer this year. All the lessons, but I desperately need them. So much of my time with Stinker was spent addressing managing him/his brain/his reactions that I developed some terrible habits. Then starting Karma without guidance let me solidify them. The great thing about her is while she tattles on me, all reactions are within a normal range and so we can just carry on while I figure out how to get my body to cooperate.

This picture of his psycho-ness makes me laugh

I was toying with the idea of doing a schooling show this fall, but I think I am going to keep my focus on getting myself in a better place and not immediately slumping back into bad habits. I think it will set Karma up for success. And honestly I am not too worried about her, I have more concerns about myself at shows vs Karma.

Impulse Lesson

I scribed for a schooling show a couple of weekends ago and due to some last minute changes I ended up scribing for a semi local judge. After sitting with her all day (and only seeing intro and training level tests) I finally realized what farm she went with. After some googling on breaks, I realized that the farm was a very reasonable distance. I didn't want to be weird and pester her at the show, so I waited until the following Monday and messaged her asking if I could haul in for a lesson.

Bob pictures because I am a terrible blogger and don't have media

We set it up for last Sunday, so I popped Karma on the trailer and drove on over. The farm is lovely and the outdoor is complete with flower boxes at the letters and a judge stand. It has been a really long time since I rode in a fully set up dressage ring. I think virtual trainer's ring is slightly bigger than regulation (I have not asked or measured it, but it always feels big). Anyway, I managed to get tacked up and hadn't forgotten anything. Everything was pretty disorganized because I hadn't really unpacked or reorganized things after the long trip.

I had to have a bunch of electrical work done so Bob and I hung out on the screened in porch and worked

The judge loved Karma, I mean everyone loves Karma because she is adorable but it is still nice to hear. It is also nice to hear that we are progressing nicely and that I have done a decent job with Karma's training. While, she has a slightly different style of teaching from Virtual Trainer, the message was the same. And some of the things clicked better in my head. Mostly we worked on getting and maintaining connection. The two biggest take aways were getting the feeling into my triceps and getting my hamstrings to fire.

Bob was very interested when the guys were working in the kitchen

It was a really good lesson and I am looking forward to getting more, because I think having more regular in person lessons will compliment the virtual lessons really well. She also said if I cleaned up the transitions, we could do a lovely training level test. I tentatively put an August schooling show in my calendar. Even if showing in August sounds absolutely awful.