"The most important thing is to not stop questioning" -Albert Einstein

Disclaimer: I realize the above quote may not be applied below exactly in the context intended by the speaker. However it very directly applies to my dressage lessons, as described and then heard below. 

"How did that go?" 

"Okay, considering we've never done a turn on the haunches before." 

"Hmmm not quite, you did turn around. What is a turn on the haunches?" 

At this point I stopped because I 1000% knew I was not going to be able to both ride correctly and process what we were talking about.

Funny enough, we stopped without wiggling into it. And we were almost square. Hmmm weird the way that works. 

More patient silence

"The hind legs stay stepping in place and the front legs move around them?" 

"Yesss... and what about their body?" 

50/50 shot and I guessed wrong... I had bent Butterball to the left to execute our right turn on the haunches. Which it seems is incorrect. 

Da fuk are you doing mom? I haven't done this before either, but I think you're wrong. -Butterball

Then we moved on to a similarly elucidating and embarrassing set of questions about the aids for turn on the haunches. 

"Well how do you ask your horse to turn?" 

After several *wrong* guesses - "With the reins?" 

"Exactly!" 

Turns out (hardee har har) you start with an inside bend, then half halt with both reins, then, ask for a turn with the rein aids. The outside leg is used to control whatever it needs to. If the shoulders aren't moving enough with the reins then the outside leg is used forward to ask for the shoulders to move more. If the haunches are swinging wide, the outside leg is used to keep them in place. 

Although our attempts were not anywhere near show ring quality, we did get better

Our progress backslide on the last one. I used my right leg but he continued to push through it and swing the haunches. Which went back to cardinal rule number one. When an aid is used it should get a reaction. If it doesn't then there is a correction (increasing aid) then the aid is reapplied lightly to test if the correction worked. When laid out that way it all seems so straightforward. 

The ToH work was a brief respite from a lot of trot and canter work. It also came with the direction to not walk too long during warm up. If the walk is no longer getting better, go ahead and trot and canter to increase the suppleness, then come back to the walk. But don't do too much of it. To increase the suppleness in the trot, we did a lot of leg yields. He started out the ride kind of braced and stiff. But I have been directed NOT to pull him into roundness. So I sat chilly and just worked on forward. Then the leg yields magically created the roundness and acceptance of contact we had been lacking. 

We spent a WHILE in the left lead canter. Turns out we're never actually straight on that lead. Which we set to work fixing by thinking shoulder-in. When that didn't so much work, we did some counter bend. Once he was straight, Butterball had a hard time holding the canter. But there were some lovely moments in between falling apart. 

We also played a tiny bit with extended trot. Which was really fun.

Hillary was kind enough to come and watch and take tons of video. I REALLY need to get my shoulders back. He looks so lovely and I don't hate the rest of my position, but my shoulders are round all the time. Rgh. Where is my inner dressage queen? 

I am continuing to absolutely LOVE these dressage lessons. The effect on Butterball is dramatic too. He is happier when he is working this hard, actually. It is weird, but he loses the sticky resistance and chomping that I call his pony side and just swings forward from the lightest aids with a quiet mouth. It is delightful. 

Next day, absolutely exhausted, just went on a walk hack around the neighborhood. I was sore, so I figured he was too. 

Foto Friday: Pony Pics

October 2024 - wish I had some set up from this time period

January 2025 - photo mirrored for better comparison to the other photos

 

June 2025

I think that Butterball is currently looking the best that he has since I've had him. But I realize that I may not be an objective measure of that. He did get too thin this winter; I was so worried about having him on grass I didn't take into account that we were losing most of the grass as we upped his workload. We've gained that back and built on the topline as well. I want to continue developing his hindquarters, but I think we're on the right track.  

Do ya'll track changes over time with photos? How about body condition scoring? I honestly think I need to implement a monthly objective BCS score to make sure we're not headed to too fat or too thin. I guess this could be included in the monthly wrap up post as well... 

One Long Day --> One Long Post

Butterball and I spent the WHOLE day together Monday. It started out with me bathing him to get him nice and clean to do his second clip of the summer. I could really live without the hair growing feature of his pony self, but I love every other part so deeply that it is worth it... I knew I didn't have time to do all of him so I did the usual diagonal line from flank to withers clip with the addition of complete front legs. 

The dapples are the only perk of this summer clipping BS

There wasn't near as much hair to come off this time (compared to the end of April) which was nice. But it's horrendously hot and humid right now, so every little bit counts. 

Then we headed down to PW's for a jump lesson. We started off our lesson with a single vertical and then a single oxer. And it was rather unimpressive. 

So much so that eventually PW asked if he could get on. Then Butterball tattled on me about how little I ask of him a lot of the time. He bulged his right shoulder through a left turn and got MOST offended when PW told him he couldn't do that. He tried it once more and then gave it up. That's the thing, he's a pretty darn agreeable creature. He will rise to meet expectations, but he'll also sink to the level of little expectation pretty easily. He tried dropping his sternum and lengthening his stride to a fence and got a HALF-HALT and then gave that one up as well. 

I got back on after that and we did some course work. 

And overall it went much better. We sort of slogged through the one stride the first time, but got it right the second go and then incorporated it into a course. When I focus on the basics, things come together. Do I have the canter I want? Is he bending to the inside and not staring outside the arena? Am I keeping my outside rein through the turn and consequently is he straight to the fence? Is my eye on THE SAME SPOT on the fence?  

PW got after me to be better organized at one point. "You're a vet, aren't you organized?" Dear sir, I am not sure why you would assume the second from the first. LOL. You should see the sticky notes around my desk on a busy day. But anyways. Plan the round. Pick up the canter with a GOOD transition. Get the canter I want. Then execute the plan. Once done, come to trot and then walk before dropping the reins. Deliberate every step of the way. 

The last run through of the first four fences of our course I got the BEST canter to the first fence. And he jumped that fence GREAT. It was a bit of a different feeling over the fence, but PW says that is the feel we're going for. I could tell the canter felt great, but wasn't as committed to the way the fence felt. 

The canter

The jump

I am frustrated to see in these pictures that my release seems to have gone right out the window again though. I'll consult with PW at the start of the next lesson. 

From our jump lesson, I headed down to 75 to get some diesel. And ended up at the world's slowest pump. C'est la vie. Fortunately ever since my BIL coated the roof of the trailer, it stays MUCH cooler in there. I know insulating it would be best, but baby steps with this trailer. Then we headed to Majestic Oaks and pulled up under a shady tree to hang out. Monday was the only day PW could do a lesson this week and Monday at 5 was also the only time I could meet up with the saddle fitter to check our jump saddle and dressage saddle. Rather than driving all the way north to essentially turn right around and head back south, we camped out at Majestic for two hours. I cleaned all my tack in the trailer and then pulled his mane while he fell asleep (I truly don't believe this horse cares about having his mane pulled, so I do it). Then he sampled some of my lunch - apricots were okay, peach was a no go. He grazed some and then I put him back on the trailer and he napped. He's such a lovely dude, I'm sure he might have been sort of sick of me at this point, but it wasn't a hardship on me just hanging out for a few hours. 

Mane looking very cute except that chunk that I ripped out with the seam ripper after the last show... 

Eventually we loaded back up and then headed down a series of smaller and increasingly less paved roads to get to someone's farm to meet the fitter. Our appointment lasted all of 30 minutes, but was well worth it. The jump saddle was brand new in March, so I suspected it would need some flocking adjusted. This was the case and she added a tiny bit to the front where it had compressed. She asked if I wanted to sit in it. I almost lazed out of it and said no. But she's based in Wellington, and I decided it would be too tricky to fix if for some reason we didn't like it. Ever the good sport, I got back on Butterball and he agreeably walk/trot/cantered around a new arena at a new farm for 5 minutes. The balance did change slightly, but not in a bad way. When we pulled out the dressage saddle, she asked if I had any issues. NOPE! It continues to fit both of us like a glove, thanks Jen. She agreed and didn't need to adjust anything in it. Perfect. 

Then the poor pony put up his first protest of the entire day and stopped at the ramp to the trailer and said "Do I gotta??" A circle and reapproach and he walked on, but I couldn't blame him. We'd gone to two different locations post jump lesson, neither of which was home. And it sounded like everyone was getting tossed dinner at that barn, so he probably would've just as soon stayed there. 

Procrastination level: PRO. "I gotta pee... And eat... But really gotta pee..."

The next morning we loaded back up for a dressage lesson. It was the day I could go back to back with my friend in hopes of hearing and retaining the checklist that JV had gone over in my first lesson while I was cantering around. Unfortunately that didn't end up happening since they worked almost entirely on squares at the trot and canter to get him honest to the aids and steering. But it was educational nonetheless and she did snag some video for me. 

This time we became a bit more demanding about leg meaning not just forward but forward and UP. A lack of UP didn't mean that I had to escalate through the 1-2-3 series of leg/dressage whip aids, but it did mean that the aid was repeated at the same magnitude. We also added in some leg yields and shoulder-in. The leg yields were to help straighten him when I felt like I was losing his shoulders to the left. The shoulder-in was to help bring the balance up. Shockingly the same soft aid then escalating if there was an inappropriate response got us pretty excellent leg yields (for us). I've been doing "baby" leg yields the whole time I've had this horse and never upped the ante. We did during this lesson and he responded stunningly. Good boy. 

At the end we played with down transitions from trot to walk. He explained that there is a balance between promptness and relaxation. The first one Butterball completely died and "came off my aids", so we repeated the transition with a sharper half-halt to start. That one was more prompt, but to me it felt abrupt and like his back dropped. JV confirmed that we had "lost the relaxation and swing". So the next ask was more gentle. He continued swinging through that one, so I called it better. JV said in a way it was, but that it was less prompt. So the next one (we quit at that point though) should be more prompt even if it sacrificed some of the relaxation. And so on. Interesting. 

We were back home by 11 AM and he got turned out with his friends without me pestering him for the rest of the day. 

Popped the camera back up - this is how he travels. Makes me think he's not too stressed by all this travel. He looks out the window at stops, but mostly eats hay or naps with his head about at the level of the chest bars. 

Butterball Gets His Own Farm

We closed on 9.6 acres outside of Williston a few days ago. It is essentially vacant - there is a dilapidated mobile home that we will have removed. And there are a bunch of trusses that we will also have removed. 

Trusses do make a nice vantage point to sit on and contemplate life 

But other than that, it is vacant. It is moderately heavily treed- none of the trees are that impressive, I'm guessing it was clear cut 50-60 years ago when the neighborhood was established. It is on a COUNTY MAINTAINED dirt road that dead ends with a loop around several properties, including our new one. I am so excited to be somewhere quiet. The farms where I've boarded the ponies have all been quiet, but I live off a main road and it is NOT quiet and is only going to get more and more trafficky as the area continues to grow and expand. So a county maintained dirt road is PERFECT. We will take so many hacks. There are also several groomed arenas within hacking distance... I'm definitely going to try to befriend those folks and ask about bartering or paying to come school in their arenas sometimes... 

The plan is to get to know the property over the next year or two. 

Hello friend! 

Then we will start clearing small parts to build an enclosed outbuilding to store equipment and various other stuffs, maybe including feed/hay and tack; then fence 2-3 pastures; then build a house. My thought is to do 2 x 2-3 acre pastures and then maybe a 1 acre sacrifice type area. I think I want to just do lean-tos spanning the pasture fences that could have gates closed if need be to stall. I don't want to clean stalls. And my lovely husband certainly won't be cleaning stalls when I go out of town. But being able to close in if need be would be nice. 

So those of you with horses at home or horses that you take care of 24/7, what are your tips/tricks to make things as low maintenance as possible? I'm thinking electric for the interior fence lines and some carefully planned lime rock in the high traffic areas around feed tubs and gates. Also, definitely planning to acquire a hay hut or something similar for supplementing hay from a round bale in the winter months. Then having some sort of fans in the shelter area would be perfect. I would like to minimize hoses, so carefully planning plumbing and electric is also on the agenda. 

Someone asked if I had looked at house plans. No, but I've definitely been sketching out pasture layouts... 

Casual Friday

My friend and I met up at Magnolia Sands yesterday morning for a fun little pop around. Per our usual adventure style, I didn't give the best directions and she ended up passing the entrance. The sign had also acquired a lot of vegetation and there was a truck blocking it, so she was doomed to fail on that one. It was her first XC school with her new Irish dude and since Butterball had worked his tail off doing dressage on Thursday, I wanted to keep it low key as well. Plus, y'know, it's roughly five million degrees + five million percent humidity, so the heat index is something special these days. 

Both boys were super brave about the sights - including a new barn that housed longhorns in the corner of the field. Butterball has schooled here before, I think, but I've never ridden him here. There are sometimes a lot of things to see... pasos on one side, baby horses/donkeys/mules, cows in tree lines, etc. But as said, both boys were just excellent. 

And Butterball was just amazing. I rode him in his double jointed happy mouth and never felt like I needed more. He was easy to the fences and just popped over everything. We got one deep spot to a bench where I kinda thought we should've taken the long, but he was all "Nah, mom, we don't have enough energy for that" and he was right. But he was dead honest over the half coffin, which can be spooky because the ditch is in a little valley. We had done it properly and popped over the ditch both directions before presenting it as a half coffin, but I was still impressed. We're starting to ask the tougher questions with combinations, and he took the jump into the water easy peasy as well. 

I'll save ya'll from the blurry screenshots this go round and just share almost all of what we did this morning. I'm going to sound like a broken record, but he's just the coolest creature. 

In the afternoon he got to play pony for my friend and her 7 and 3 year old kiddos. We grew up riding together; her mom was my riding instructor. But she's gotten out of horses for the most part. Until a year ago she did still have her QH that I learned to ride on when I was EIGHT! He was on lease to a family about 1.5 hours from where she lives. So her older son had spent some time with horses, but rather infrequently. Butterball seemed to love the attention from him though. Her older kiddo is a really gentle soul and rather than pulling for grass, Butterball just stood and got a relaxed sleepy look while he brushed him. Then we popped kiddo up on his back in the bareback pad and led him around the ring. At first he was holding on with his heels which led to a kinda confused face from BB, but after a few minutes he realized he was just to ignore that. And we got the kiddo to sit up and relax his leg down. Then it was just happy, relaxed faces from both of them. It was precious. My friend called him a Breyer pony, which fits him perfectly. He got well paid for his time with plenty of low sugar cookies, so I don't think he was too upset about two "rides" in one day. I seriously could not adore this horse more. To go from popping around some new questions cross country to being a kid's pony in the same day? Absolutely priceless. 

Where have you been my whole life?

Butterball and I took a lesson with a new dressage trainer (JV) yesterday. And it was amazing. The way I've gone on and on about some rides I need to just focus on his response to my leg in order to keep him sharp to it? Yeah, he called me (us?) out in the first two laps. "You're nagging and he's not responding and is cranky about it." YEP. 

So he explained the 1, 2, 3. 1 is a brush with the calves, what you want them to respond to. 2 is a boot or poke with the spur. 3 is a kick and tap with whip. And the response should be proportionate to the aid ie a 1 should get you a 2 mph increase. A 2 should get you a 3-4 mph increase. And a 3 should get you 4+ mph increase. Jigging is not actually the right response either because it is still not actually forward. Once the forward has happened, then you have to test that you trained - ask with a 1 again. This is how you train them.

JV did a LOT of asking "How's your trot?" And sometimes I would say it was good and he would go "Wellllll I do not agree" LAWLZ. But I never felt picked on or rushed and consequently never transferred those feelings to BB. So by the end, he wasn't chomping on the bit at all, and he was lifting and moving in a way I haven't felt before. The constant questions feel SO USEFUL for working at home. With my prior fave dressage trainer of all time, I always had a hard time replicating the work we did in our lesson at home. But with the constant questions here I actually had to assess myself and then sort out correcting it. Testing, it definitely helps with learning. 

Blurry screen shot of prancy pony

He said that horses should be on cruise control. Whatever pace they're at, they stay at that pace until otherwise directed. The rider is not to aid them (/piss them off?) by pushing each stride. We moved from the walk to the trot fairly early on in the ride. I was told to keep my hands quiet but not throw him away. Initially the roundness wasn't there, but as time went on, it arrived, all on its own, without me having to screw with his face. We played with the same brush with the leg in the trot to get a really lovely trot. And then when we had a really nice trot, moved on to the canter. 

In our canter depart I was told not to: 

- Cluck

- Drive with my seat

- Lean my upper body forward 

A little tight at first

In other words, the canter transition comes from the legs (and I assume eventually the seat, but it sure doesn't come from the list of three things above that I tried/do all the time...). And me doing it from one of the other things listed above meant we cantered 4-6 strides and then rinsed and repeated. A couple of times I had to get to #3 which led to some flailing around on my part and a wrong lead on Butterball's part. But a few attempts later, when I slid my outside leg back and closed my inside leg at the girth, he lifted into the canter. 

The ONLY time I did anything with my hands was tracking right where he wanted to tilt his head to the left. Then I gently closed my fingers on the right rein a couple of times to get him bending properly. 

Half-halts followed the same pattern - quietly close and lift, but if that doesn't work the next one is sharper. If this causes a break to the trot, the trot must also half-halt. But then STOP slowing down. So if the canter is 10 mph and the trot starts as a sprawling 10-11 mph, then half-halt to get the trot to an 8 mph. Then legs are used to tell him to continue at that 8 mph if he tries to slow down beyond that. Then pick the canter back up and try the half-halt again. 

Through all this work, essentially just on responsiveness to the aids, he became softer and more through with more lift in his withers than I've felt before. 

That will do... 

I'm planning on going back once a week for the next few weeks. This was so incredibly useful. And even though it is by far the most I've paid for a lesson, I finally sold both saddles that were not in use. So that can be Operation Stop Nagging dressage lesson money for Butterball and me. 

Wednesday Walks: Splish Splash

Last week, Butterball got to go on a great adventure. My friend has a house on a lake about 45 minutes outside of Gainesville. And she sent me pictures of horses riding in from the boat ramp on the lake. I roped my friend into checking it out with me. I did say multiple times I had NO IDEA how it was going to be other than the lake is a nice sandy bottom, relatively clear lake. She made it extra adventure-y by zoning out and missing a turn and having to turn around in someone's yard. 

I can see why the zoning out though, it was a beautiful drive

I managed to get there on the first try, but did get a little worried when I pulled through pretty narrow metal gates into a long, single track sandy road that led to the boat ramp. I consoled myself that people with boats managed to turn around, so surely I would be able to turn around the two horse trailer. And indeed, there was plenty of room at the end. When I got out of the truck, there were a million bugs that looked A LOT like MOSQUITOES all over the truck and trailer. I braced myself and started rifling for bug spray in the tack room before realizing they didn't seem to bite. Okay, we can co-exist then. 

Butterball was a bit confused about what he was doing at this new spot all alone and for once didn't want a drink. We made our way in hand down to the boat ramp. 

His little ears go a bit sideways when he is unsure. So cute. 

Then he got his drink from the lake

After getting his feet wet at the ramp, we walked over to a more gradual sandy lead in to the lake. 

Unsure ears again since there were little tiny waves

But it just took him a minute to get comfy

I took my shoes off at the shore and didn't actually fear for my toes, he's such a good boy. I should've brought water shoes, not a single pair of boots that I didn't really want to soak. 

We wandered back up to the trailer after that. 

Speckly pony from splashing around

My friend arrived shortly after we walked back up. Butterball got a quick brush and then got his hackamore and the bareback pad. The one fault of the bareback pad is it is hella slippery when the top of it gets wet. Which it did. Oops. But all good, I did not unintentionally dismount that day, although I did come close at one point. 

The boys were actually quite goofy about the concrete barriers. I was surprised when Butterball balked, but then realized it wasn't about the water in the distance, it was about the weird concrete barriers. But we made it past and then back into the water. 

The black ear tips are just THE CUTEST

This was the best group photo I managed

The boys had a fabulous time. Other than keeping them out of each others laps, which they both seemed to really want to do, we gave them very little direction. Without me asking, Butterball walked out about as deep as he could walk without starting to swim. He moseyed around, drinking some, holding his chin in the water some, and then pawing a good bit. This is what soaked the bareback pad, but that's the whole reason I was in it. Eventually they seemed to have had their fill and we headed out. 

We headed down the dirt road to the boat ramp and then spotted an entrance into a state forest right across the road. But there were also cows. In the woods. That kinda sorta chased us. I regretted the bareback pad and the rope halter at one point, but it turned out fine. Butterball doesn't truly want to go anywhere when he spooks, which is great. 

There were a few flies, but it wasn't terrible, so we took a solid 20 minute walk down a relatively shaded track before turning around and back tracking. Then the ponies got groomed and got to graze a bit before we loaded up and headed home. 

Overall it was an absolutely delightful June morning, I would 100% go back. Out of respect for the people who live there and/or use the boat ramp for boats, I won't ever go on a weekend, but we had the place to ourselves this weekday morning. We did pick up the poop that they left in the grass, so hopefully this continues to be allowed. 

Psychological Reactance

When PW said "you're afraid to go there and ask him for more" my first reaction was "I AM NOT AFRAID TO GO THERE! SO NOT AFRAID! WHAT A DUMB STATEMENT. WHY DOES HE THINK I'M AFRAID?!?!" Definitely thought in ALL CAPS because that was the only thing that was going through my brain after such an outrageous statement. And in one sense, my reaction was correct. I am not at all afraid of getting hurt by Butterball. In spite of my fall in February, this horse feels SAFE. He shows up, he does his job as asked, and when it's a stupid ask, like a flat on your face flail from a long spot, he politely says no. Even when he gets a little squirrelly (ie when cows run at the fence behind him), he still feels safe. I think it's that he has never once checked out on me and lost his own sense of self preservation. Both thoroughbreds, at different points, checked the fuck out and went blank in the back of their eyes. Butterball? Never checked out. And he's 14.3. And in spite of his athleticism, being able to wrap my leg around his barrel makes a huge difference in how secure I feel on him. 

Old media, I didn't get any new this week, but leg is wrapped

SO anyways. Not afraid of getting hurt by the horse. But when I checked back in and decided that I should try to dissect the information coming from the person I'm paying to give me information rather than just shouting internally that it wasn't true, I realized what he meant. 

To make a long story long, I've spent the past week riding Butterball in his hackamore (which is a rope side pull). I started using the hackamore because I was sick of hearing him chomp chomp on the bit. So, see above about him never feeling like he's endangering me, I took away the bit. 

To clarify, I don't actually hate the sound of teeth on metal. The one sound that really does that for me is anything scraping along ice. But, I hated what the sound of him chomping meant... The chomp chomp means he's not truly through and accepting contact and it means there is tension. So for a week before PW told me I was afraid, we were merrily trotting and cantering along, nose to the ground, steering off my seat and legs and somewhat adjusting pace/balance off my seat and legs. And it felt so harmonious and lovely. We even jumped things in the hackamore. Those things were small, but they came up perfectly out of stride and in a lovely forward way. Yet I could still halt in a straight line afterwards off my seat and voice. Basically, angels were singing, and I was plotting leaving the show ring forever and riding solely in his hackamore. 

Hackamore for the first ride at the GY's and he was perfect

Then in the lesson, I rode him in his usual Neue Schule Turtle Top Full Cheek. He actually only chomped it twice when I bridled him, which is a definite decrease. But once I picked up contact, there it was, the familiar chomp chomp. It was during our warm up when I was "asking" for a collected canter that PW told me I was afraid. And I clued in that I am still afraid of ruining this horse. He is, by far, the nicest horse I've ridden. He is also exquisitely sensitive and somewhat lazy. So if I let him get away with a half-assed version of what we are capable of, he is happy to deliver. But if I ask for more, but reward the tries along the way, he will deliver that too. But I have to reward the tries along the way because he is sensitive and he WANTS to be a good boy. If I don't reward the tries along the way he gets shut down and kinda turned off and dull. Whew. 

PW dissected that the chomping is him not being through and then talked me through asking for more collection in the canter. When we truly got it and he lifted his forehand, the chomping stopped. Whaddya know, an initial reaction of tension and a not through attempt at slowing, but then by being gently persistent, he released the tension and actually came through. HUH. His initial reaction was one of reactance, probably that I've created, but then he came around to it. My horse and I have some things in common... 

The rest of the lesson was equally interesting. Butterball's straightness fault is a left drift. I think this was there initially, but really worsened when I kept riding with my sprained ankle. This made my left leg ineffective and made me lean right pretty badly over fences to protect the ankle on landing. We're dealing with the consequences of that now. 

I can see the twisting/lean happening here, this was two weeks after the ankle

Corresponding view from the right side, looking at my hips they're definitely to the right

And maybe getting jumped out of the tack is actually just leaning right

The hackamore helped to show me how inactive my left leg is compared to my right. This inactivity has allowed the left shoulders to escape. When I'm not relying on my hands, the ONLY way to fix it is by actually using my left leg. I can fix the left shoulder issue on the flat either by actually counter bending to the outside with a present, supportive left leg (funny because a bulging left shoulder while tracking left isn't actually a true counter bend, thanks brain), or by booting him off of that shoulder with my left leg at the girth to achieve true inside bend. Useful info for sure. 

In the lesson, we were working through a gymnastics line of three canter poles to an oxer, one stride to a vertical, and eventually one stride to an oxer. At one point I tapped him on the left shoulder over the first fence. PW told me NO, that will chase him quick, which is not what we want once we're in the grid. Instead, he raised up the left side of the fences and added placing poles and had me aim for the right hand stripe on the poles. That finally got us straight. He also pointed out my right lean over the fence and said no matter where the horse goes, I stay in the center, but can use an open right rein to encourage him to stay right. Okay, got it. We eventually did put it together successfully and then called it a day on that. 

Plenty to ponder going forward. I do think for his mental health, and mine, that some rides in the hackamore are good. It also has been very helpful for revealing holes in my position and aids. But I also tend to take it too easy on us as a team, so I'll need to structure that in a way that there are days where I put the pressure on (AND REWARD) to be better, lift more, sit more, etc. 

A few other notes from the lesson that didn't fit into my story line above: 

- Do not sit back and drive with the seat to go forward... close the hip angle and stay light in the seat

- When sitting the trot to fences, 90% of the weight should be in the stirrups, 10% in the seat 

- Do not throw away the contact to go forward