Why everyone needs a trainer

I had to cancel my lesson tonight because of two things - first I got out of work 30 minutes late and wouldn't be able to get my horse groomed and tacked in time. Second, as I was driving to the barn I got a voicemail from Craig saying he had to work late so I had to pick up the girls. This sucks worse than missing the lesson, because it means that I can't ride at all. I had to go out to the barn no matter what and set up Kaswyn's supplements, and afterwards I gave my horse some treats and left for the day care. Two minutes from the barn Craig calls to say he finished with work and I could ride my horse. I knew he felt crappy because of his sinus infection, so I said I'd come home. He insisted that he could tough it out, so I should ride. Awesome.

My trainer was in the arena riding another horse while I was on Kaswyn. She told me that he felt great when she rode him yeaterday, and was watching me ride. I was thinking Kaswyn felt okay when she said "Get him more off the forehand - shorten your reins - more energy and get more of a reaction when you put your leg on - keep him round - don't let him get you leaning too far back - that's it..."

And with that short list of instructions she was able to get my horse working really well. She also made me realize how many bad habits I had fallen into by not having regular lessons for over a year. Next week we're going to try again. Until then we're back to circles and straight lines.

Oh, on a completely unrelated subject - they dug up our front yard today to replace the sewer and storm drains from the house to the street. I was shocked when I came home. Our front yard is gone. I'm going to take pictures tomorrow before they start work. You won't believe it. I should have taken before pictures because our front yard will never be the same.

I just keep saying to myself, "It's better than shit in the basment..."