Redemption

After the previous day's ride where Stitch's butt came up behind me when he had a little hissy fit about having to keep trotting past the gate, the focus for ride #7 was going to be just focusing on forward. I really don't care too much about steering at the trot, he's not diving all over the place, he's just cutting the ends a bit short, but until we get forward I don't want to fuss about anything that's going to back him off. 

The first trot was definitely not as forward as I am looking for, but it got better and better as we got going. We didn't have any issues getting through the short end by the gate, he backed off a bit but kept going, but then he kept backing off heading down the long side into the opposite end. 

I was going to be done, but thought, nah, I just want to do one more short end by itself, from B to E on the track. 

And Stitch nailed it. It was super forward, no stalling out, with definite intent of going forward. It was the perfect decision and the perfect place to end the ride. 

We found a lovely little laneway at the end of our road that I would love to ride down when the leaves start dropping. Unfortunately, the people that live at the end of the road are not horse people and do not like anyone trespassing on their property. We might have to try to get some pictures from along the road.

Our rides are still quite short- homeboy is not at all fit (and neither am I judging by the amount of huffing and puffing I hear in the videos), and I want to make sure that he wants to keep trying for me. 

There were some moments on this ride that I finally felt Stitch getting a bit steadier underneath me which allowed me to anchor myself better in the saddle. There's nothing like a baby horse to make you feel like you are a beginner rider again!