Ride #2

After sitting on Stitch for the first time I had a bit of a busy week during which I didn't really do anything with him other than hand-walking. I am now freshly re-certified in first aid, but please - don't trust that I can do anything other than call 911 for you!

This weekend I started my final vacation week of the year, so it's officially time to get Stitch going!

Ride #2 was on Saturday. 

I had someone lead us around for a couple of circles each direction, with some walk/halt transitions mixed in. Then we were unclipped and let loose!

We were on the left rein first, which is Stitch's least favorite side. When loose in the arena he always wants to go right, his left lead is the trickier one, and steering left when ground driving has been the side with the stickier turns. (Sadly, this is also my tougher side, so that's gonna suck.)

He got a bit sticky about going forward along the wall opposite the gate on the left rein, stopped a couple of times after a couple of steps, but nothing abnormal for a first time.

He started off a bit stuck on the open part of the circle on the right rein, but once we got along the wall he relaxed, and across the short side he dropped his head, lengthen his neck, and just marched along. Totally felt like an "I got this" moment.

Was it heading towards the gate? Most definitely.  Did I care? Nope, I'll take what I can get. Did I hop off right after that and shovel cookies in his mouth? You betcha!

Total saddle time was about 10 minutes. Again, there was a Pivo fail right at the end when he gave me the great walk. I really must put it in a different spot next time.