Left is Right

I'm starting to think our weather for all of 2018 is going to be wretched. We started off ridiculously cold, then it rained incessantly, then we skipped spring entirely and jumped right to summer and it completely stopped raining (well, we got a little yesterday but it's still way too dry). Today's high is upper 90s with a triple digit heat index, and we have a heat advisory all weekend -- which should make tomorrow's GMO schooling show a great time (/heavy sarcasm). This is like August weather, I'm not mentally prepared for August in June.

Alright, I know, I'll stop bellyaching about the weather. But for real, Mother Nature needs to take her meds. Maybe this means our August will be tolerable? A girl can dream. 

At any rate, between putting up hay and working on a grant proposal for a GMO clinic, my evenings this week have been very busy, and my mornings were frequently too manic to squeeze in a ride. Thankfully this morning I finally had enough checked off my to-do list that I could tack Cinna up without worrying about any other obligations!  

Even with a week off, she was a dream. I love how mature she's getting, and how she shows up every day, ready to work. She's getting so much more trustworthy in basically every area. And I really think she likes the new bit, we had some really good moments this morning.

I didn't think I could love this view more than I did, but I was wrong. The roached mane absolutely makes it better! 

In the past, all of the green horses that I've brought along (3 in the last 8 years or so)  struggled tracking right -- obviously meaning that *I* was doing something to cause the issues. If all your horses have the same problem, the problem is you, haha, a lesson I learned early on! I think I'm making progress in correcting my right-track issues, since I've been noticing a trend with Cinna -- she struggles to the left. 

Cinna would like you to know all her "struggles" are my fault. Which is 100% accurate. 

It was super apparent in last week's ride when she came out super stiff and braced, because she could not turn left AT ALL. Today we definitely had more flexibility and ability to bend tracking left at the walk and trot, but the first time I asked her to canter, she picked up the right (aka wrong) lead. I didn't let it fluster me, just brought her back down to trot and asked again, but boy will she have an easy time with counter canter eventually, haha. And it was somewhat reassuring to realize that even when I feel like my progress as a rider is completely at a standstill while I continually bring along greenies, maybe I'm not entirely correct. Inching along is better than nothing, right? :) Still hoping to jump start our progress this summer with lessons, but that's pretty much always on my to-do list, and my lack of follow through is a significant issue in that area... Ugh. 

DH found an itchy spot.

At any rate, it was a productive session, and I'm a little sad I had to forgo entering tomorrow's GMO show (although I'm glad I don't have to trailer her when it's a billionty degrees). But there will always be more shows, right? And as she continues to act like a grown up horse, maybe we can have fun show outings where I'm not tempted to dump her at an auction on the way home (I'm mostly kidding, lol).