We have foam!!!

Thursday and Friday were both really good rides.  They both started out a little shaky, Boomer has been really on edge lately because of the snow sliding off of the roof.  Both rides he seemed to settle pretty quickly and I started right away getting him on the bit.  Once he is there, he seems to stay there for the most part!  How exciting!  Friday especially, he was just ON!  He was light and forward and seemed to really be enjoying engaging and moving out in the trot.  We have started working on some straight lines making a big X across the arena, using the short sides as a half circle to gather him back up.  I think he is doing very well and he feels much straighter to me.  I did a few passes around the whole arena on Friday but that seemed to be a lot for him and we did have to make a few small circles to get him back on the bit and connected to my hand.

The release discovery I made with Flanny in the last lesson seems to be a real breakthrough for me.  I have started using my elbows to give rather than opening my hand and Boomer seems much more apt to stay on the bit. 

Bonus for Friday- We got a great trot/canter transition on both sides!  I have really been focusing on walk and trot work and haven't cantered much at all in the last month.  He was so ON Friday and was really enjoying moving out so I put my outside leg on for a few strides, made sure I had him in hand and asked and he thought really hard, put his ears sideways, and PUSHED up into  the canter without rushing at all or raising his head up!  It was awesome!  He was a little fast and lost some steering, but I was after the transition, not gait quality.  To the right, he raised his head slightly, but gave the same big effort!

  Double Bonus for Friday's ride- Boomer was foamy on both sides of his mouth equally!  On Thursday he had a little foam on the right side in the corner, but Friday was totally foamy all the way around!