Confirmation

Now that we seem to have Lance's physical issues handled, I wanted an outside read on where we were at in our training. I tried unsuccessfully to coordinate a time with Suzan, since she had seen Lance at his unhappiest, but was able to get a lesson from Julie on Tuesday. Monday afternoon's schooling session left me excited; Lance felt the best he ever has.

Well, my title says it all. Julie thought he looked great; straighter and more balanced than he was the last time she saw him. He was carrying himself much better, instead of feeling like he was ready to throttle down any chance he got, especially at the canter. We have things to work on, of course. Most of it centers in keeping Lance's left hind active (which I've been focusing on since Dr. Steward's visit), and requiring him to be responsive.

One of my objectives in taking a lesson was to get a professional opinion on whether we have any business entering a recognized show at First Level. That was an affirmative, too. So today I sent off my entries to Dressage at DevonWood I & II. (If it's already full, I'll take that as a sign that I shouldn't spend the money!)

Julie rode Lance for a bit at the end of our lesson. I didn't get any good photos, but I rather like this one of Julie telling my handsome fellow what a good boy he was. And he was JUST as good when I rode him today!