Supermoon; super ride

So, Lance and I were on a roll after three great lessons with Julie. At our last lesson, two weeks ago today, we finished by reviewing the two Training Level tests we will be doing at the show this Sunday. Since then, I've worked on test elements during our rides, although trying hard not to drill them. (Lance picked up "halt at X" way too quickly!)

Last week I was headed to the beach on Tuesday, and to Spokane for four days on Wednesday. Not wanting to miss any more preparation than absolutely necessary, I got up EARLY both Tuesday and Wednesday mornings to ride.

This week has been hot, and I haven't been able to ride in the mornings. Sunday's ride was okay; last night's (as in late – after dark) ride was fairly miserable. So this evening, I stopped thinking at all about the show and the tests, and just focused on exercises to improve connection and gaits and responsiveness. We leg-yielded down the wall as well as quarterline-to-wall; we did a lot of trot-halt-trot transitions; I made sure to keep him properly bent around my inside leg while keeping my hands 'giving' and on their own sides of his neck. Big improvement!

So for the rest the week, we'll do more of the same, and on Sunday, we'll go in and do our two tests as best we can. I'll try to get photos or video!