Minor update

I don't have much time to post an update tonight so I will keep it short.

Sunday I managed to get up on Saga. We just walked for about 30 minutes, and he was grumpy about it after the hard day before, but due to the weather he couldn't be turned out, so I figured that him moving around some was better than sitting in a stall and stocking up.

I also went out to see Cash at Paint Creek Ranch. When we got there, he was swimming in his duck pond! Firefox (Ziggy's dad) and Zhizhu gave him a bath, and then we all rode him bareback for just a few moments (and before you ask, YES, we were all wearing helmets). I even asked him to canter for a few steps, but it was pretty discombobulated. We did have some nice trot moments though, and he still remembers he's a show pony. Overall, he looked really great and it was so good to see him.

This is just after I pulled him out of the duck pond where he was soaking.
If you look closely, you'll see that he's got a high water mark
just below the black spots on the top of his back.

Sooo handsome!

Can you tell he used to be a real dressage horse?

What a cutie!

Monday I had a very nice but short ride on Saga - we got in perhaps 5 minutes of really stellar trot, but because I was still sore (and I'm sure he was too), I called it quits and just walked him for another 20 minutes or so.

Wednesday I had my first lesson with Joan Darnell. It went really, really well. I'll have to post more on it later, but I learned quite a bit about how bad he is off my right leg, especially on the straight sides, and how counter-flexed he is. We did get a few really sweet canter transitions though, so I'm very pleased.

I'll post more later. Enjoy the picts and the tiny bit of video!