Quality pony time :)

I spent last weekend at my parent's house and got to see Cheyenne for the first time in FOUR months! The distance was really starting to kill me, and pony therapy was just what I needed :) I ended it yesterday with two AMAZING rides!

First I rode Cheyenne with the intention of trying out a canter transition technique Lillan talked about in November. Our canter transitions have always been pretty rough, and much less we almost never pick up the correct lead. We did a quick warm up OL, and started off our ride with walk/trot transitions while playing FTR. Fifteen strides walk/fifteen strides trot, and repeat. She was really bracey on my left rein, but we slowed it down then switched to trotting the F8 pattern until she relaxed. Once we went from impulsive and bracey to calm with a loose rein, it was time to try out the new canter depart! Once we rounded the corner to the longer side of the pasture at the trot, I weighted my outside stirrup and raised my energy. Oh, and I also did this awesome move where I was half posting, half using my seat to ask for canter in mid air.. which apparently does not qualify as raising your energy lol. Chey was really getting pretty frustrated with me after about two attempts, so I took a deep breath and promised her I wouldn't try so hard. As we rounded the corner at a trot again, I stayed in the saddle, weighted my outside stirrup, and pulsed my butt cheeks (don't look at me funny, it was in the new Mastery DVD!) and the transition was GORGEOUS! Super smooth, her neck was rounded, and we were on the correct lead! Oh my goodness! And it was an awesome tempo! It was like riding a shorter version of my old dressage instructor's horse! I am really excited to finally have the answer to our continual counter canters, and I think Chey is a little relieved too ;)

I decided it worked so well on Cheyenne, that I wanted to try the butt pulses out on Gweny. If you haven't seen the DVD, essentially to ask for an upward transition, instead of asking with your legs, you pulse with your cheeks and raise up your energy. This helps your horse see it as more their idea, and you're not asking them abruptly with your legs, which leads to smoother transitions.She responded so well! She will typically get offended whenever I ask for any sort of forward motion, be it walking forward from a standstill or asking for the trot. She will raise her head, put her ears back, and sometimes go stoic and refuse to move. However by just raising my energy and asking with my cheeks, she seemed really eager and didn't give me any of her normal blocks. 

All in all, it was a really gratifying weekend :) It was really therapeutic to be back in the pasture, and I got to try out the techniques I've been dying to try. What more could a girl ask for?