After Gali's streak of 11 ride-free days, I fully expected a fresh terror today. When I woke up and it was a chilly 36 degrees, I was convinced the universe had conspired against me, and that my ride was going to be full of ups and downs - him mostly up, me mostly down.
Luckily, by the time I got done work and out to the farm, it was a calm, warm afternoon. I still expected some hijinx, but for the most part, Gali was good. He was unusually stiff on his left side, so going to the right became more of a fight than I wanted to have. It was nowhere near his usual spin and bolt, though, so I really can't complain too much. He softened up in that direction after a few square circles and some lateral work, but I didn't push it because I will be riding Saturday and Sunday, as well. He was very willing to stretch down and out in his stretchy trot circles, and we even touched on some lateral work for the first time in a while. He stayed straight and kept an even tempo throughout the leg yields, but came considerably above the bit. I need to keep reminding myself that will come in time, when I get the rest of him sorted out.
We finished by running through an old intro level test, and surprisingly (to me, at least) his circles were round and even. The biggest challenge was the halt, actually, which isn't something I've ever had to work on with him, and I guess now is the time.
A friend of mine came out to play with the ponies, and despite only being on a horse once before (and I made her canter! We had the perfect school horse... I miss Baxter a lot) she was brave enough to get on the moose and walk around. Gali was happy to be done work early, and he followed me around the whole arena without taking his nose out of my back pocket, even though Lynn was cantering his best friend, Max, in circles around us the whole time. What a good boy!
Good man, Gali!
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