Janurary 29th - 7:41pm

Hot, humid day here but a really good one never the less. Rode Cor Lit, Montana, Invasor, Casia, Orly, Puccini and Jour. Did a lesson of sorts with Cor Lit and Puccini. Was a simple exercise with crossrails set on the center line. Left canter and turn to the first crossrail, right turn to the second, good transition after. Both the turn to start and the turn in the middle were tightish half circles. With Cor Lit my biggest struggle was getting ahold of his shoulder where I wanted it while keeping the engagement from behind. Once I did that, the lead change and turn I needed were right there. Had an easier time with Puccini getting the exercise done. Initially some trouble with distances but got that sorted out. I naturally see a little bit longer distance and typically move up a bit to get to a better one. Puccini needed to work on waiting and getting the closer distance. Or at least not moving up to anything. When I started thinking about that I promptly added a stride infront of the fence. After an indecesive chip (hate those) we got our stuff together and jumped well. Ended up taking a header off Montana this morning as well but scrabbled up, caught him (good boy for just standing quietly!) and climbed back on. Was a good ride before the oops moment and continued to be good after. Its been a few months since Ive come off so guess I can be thankful for that! The big gist I got from today is I need to manage the engine of my rides while controlling their shoulders. If I can get that done, things like finding a distance, getting and change or just flatting well will improve greatly. One more thing to add to the "Needs Improvement" list!
All in all though, a good day here at the farm. Fun work, nice people and great horses.