Happy Veteran's Day! Being the good, state employee that I am, I scheduled a riding lesson with Corrie in celebration. Corrie put me through the wringer for about 40 minutes (this riding stuff is hard, I tell you!) and then I asked her to ride Asia. Other than seeing Grits ride her about a month ago, and I'd forgotten the memory card for the wee Sony, I've not seen anyone ride this mare and I've had her for almost 3 and a half years.

Corrie hopped on and took a few turns around the arena and that's them in the video. She summed her up as "willing" and "trying." I think that's a valid assessment of Asia and I was pleased to hear it. Yes, she's stiff on one side and to the right she rams her barrel into my leg, but she also figured out what I was asking her to do with leg yielding and half halting and by damn, she picked up the canter and on the correct lead every time I asked!

Remember when I started these lessons in April? It was because riding the fancy dressage horses in Brazil showed me how clearly I cannot ride despite successfully riding for 40 years now, including quite a bit of fox hunting and general trail riding. Yes, I can stay on a horse. Yes, I have good balance. Yes, I can jump. But can I train a horse? No, not really. Can I get a good canter transition? I couldn't then, but I can now. There is still a lot of room for improvement, but by damn, I've learned something. YAY!