Nice View

The view from the top is pretty sweet this afternoon.


The saddle is very comfortable for me, and I know Aristoitle is comfortable because he offered to canter! Initially I think he anticipated discomfort since his other saddle is too narrow and doesn't allow for him to move comfortably. We walked around the arena several times, then trotted, played the sideways game, bending games, and backed up. While we played the games his head was up and he was bracey but the more I walked around and asked him to bend the more he began to relax.

The next time we trotted his head and neck came down and his trot was relaxed and comfortable. I continued to do trot, walk, halt, back transitions keeping things light but maintaining his concentration on the games. We also played "put your nose on it" :) he put his nose on the mounting block in the arena, and then on the carrot stick which was standing upright inside a traffic cone.

If a horse could turn into a relaxed noodle Aristoitle was well on his way to that state of mind; he was yawning, blowing his nose, and yawning again. I asked him to canter on our last lap around the arena, and he took off on the correct lead even though he was a little rushed. I'm not worried about the canter, he'll get it, he is getting it already.