So today Mia had me working a lot on changing my mindset when it comes to how I ride. Coming from 15 years of riding predominately school horses, you tend to get a bit lax about things. (I said trot. How about a trot? Five strides later... you finally get the trot you asked for) But that isn't how it's supposed to work and I'm a decent enough rider that I can expect my horse to respond to my aids and get after him when he doesn't. He's a lot happier, too, when it's clear what exactly he's supposed to be doing!
After that little discussion, we worked on some circles/turning them into serpentines whenever possible. Our arena isn't huge, so it involves a fairly quick change of bend between half-circles which sometimes proved difficult but by the end of the ride I managed to get him moving and changing nicely. Definitely ended on a good note.
And apparently his owner dropped by for a surprise visit/check after Mia had made the offer... and was so happy to see how well he's doing that she cried. I'm glad our appreciation and admiration for him shows.
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