Nate

After much procrastination I rode Nate today. When I first got on him it was a little rough. I didn't pick up on the reins at all because he seems so touchy about them. I asked him to trot - with literally no contact and he bucked, so I sat down and squeezed him again - and he threw his hind end a little and did a little canter step, and then continued on his way trotting. This is the exact same thing he did with Jalene in her lesson with Steve. I'm not really sure why he does it, or what command I was giving him incorrectly. After that I had a lesson on him, which was very helpful!

We started out by just giving him as much time as he needed to loosen up, and it was colder than normal so I'm sure that wasn't making it any easier on the poor guy. We walked a lot and then picked him up in the trot, with contact but nothing more than a light contact, asking him to think about going round, but not forcing it. As the time went on he naturally put himself there when I got my aids correct. It started out as a split second in the trot where I would get everything correct and he would lower his bead and relax his back. As we went on those moments became longer and longer until eventually he stayed round pretty consistently. The canter could have used a little more forward, but he seemed relaxed and comfortable. I attempted a flying change, but tensed up and wouldn't let him finish it, so we got half of one. Poor guy was really trying, and I completely got in his way. But just the fact that we could even attempt one after the beginning of our ride made me really happy. He certainly isn't an easy ride, but one that will definitely improve your riding skills! Very thankful for the opportunity to ride him and look forward to learning more from this great teacher.