I just took nearly a week off to rest my back again. It rained pretty hard yesterday, so I figured the Mosquitos would be pretty bad, and boy was I right. Cello had welts the size of my face in a couple spots. Poor dude. Anyways, I warmed him up with walk leg yields on the wal again and he was a bit sticky on the left. I don't like to bug horses on one particular thing, so I just super him a bit with my left leg and rein and just left it like that. When I picked up the trot it was the first time he felt super swingy and soft from the start. He didn't wantto just rush off which both made me happy and a bit shocked at the same time. May e some time off is good for his mind.

I just did some super stretchy trot work, leg yields, osome forward and back transitions, and some calm, quiet canter work. He's still a bit tricky in the canter, especially going right. It feels more uphill and engaged, but I really have to ride him in shoulder fore and keep both legs on. It's a struggle, though I'm sure it looks fine if you're watching. It's coming.

I'm also cooling him down and incorporating the half steps and some collected trot work. He has extreme ability to collect, but he gets tight and tense if he thinks he's being shoved into it. So basically I keep my reins long and low, and just focus on keeping his neck mobile and supple and round. Then when I shift both legs back and cluck a bit, he sits his little butt down and really gets lift and cadence.I barely have to do anything. he has a good half step coming and quite a good passage, for the very few steps I ask him for. I praise him a lot and give him sugar after three or 4 steps. I just k ow that when it comes time for him to get serious about piaffe and passage, I would rather have him familiar with the aids and the rhythm. That way it's not a big deal or a big adjustment, and when he's string enough to do it for real it's not going to be an issue.

After the ride we went out on the trails and he enjoyed looking at all the grass and flowers in the fields.