alobear | You're only as old as you feel

I rode Conan again this week and discovered that I was wrong when I said it wasn't possible for him to move very fast! I think I must have had horsenip in my hat again, because I actually had to fight to keep him in check for most of the lesson and he went off like a rocket every time it was our turn to canter. When you consider he's only two years younger than me (which is way past usual retirement age for a horse), it was pretty amazing.

Whenever horses run away with me, my natrual reaction is to giggle maniacally until we slow down again. I've never been sure if the instructors are relieved or scared by this, but hey...

Speaking of instructors, we had Adam today. I've never been taught by him before and he's very enthusiastic and positive, which is nice and makes the lesson a lot of fun. We did a variation on Dominic's ever decreasing circles exercise and both three and four loop serpentines. I was second in line for most of the lesson, but ended up at the front somehow after the circles. I'm nearly always lead file all the way through, so it was a nice change to escape the pressure of leading everyone.

We also did a lot more canter work than usual, which was brilliant considering Conan was in hyper mode and a lot speedier than normal. We actually did canter to halt at one stage because he was going way too fast when we got round to the back of the ride! The only problem with Conan being bananas was that, at one point, the ride in the other half of the school got a bit close and Conan spooked, suddenly leaping several feet directly sideways and nearly pitching me into the dirt. I managed to stay on, though, and Adam didn't believe me when I said Conan had spooked, because he never does that!

Anyway, everyone else impressed me no end.

siroswold and

fishbang managed their first canter transitions really well and kept their seats despite losing stirrups and having a rather speedy horse respectively.

vampadvocate got a smooth canter transition out of Huey, which is more than I've ever managed. However,

weaselbitch was the star of the show, cantering on Martini like a pro and demonstrating that her seat and position are much stronger and firmer than mine. A natural, if ever I've seen one!

Well done, guys! :o)