So today was a really good, positive ride on Cello. It felt like all the hard work we have been doing 3-4 days a week is really starting to come together - in just 15 or 16 rides since we both started back he feels like a proper dressage horse, not a green 2 x 4 that needs a shot of tequila to relax.

I gave his owner a lesson on him yesterday, and prior to that he had 2 days off. Today he was awesome. We started up loose rein walk like always (until he breathes deeply and snorts) and then I did some half steps with nice flexion to get his  hind legs a little quicker. After 5 mins of that we did our walk head-to-the-wall LY both ways, schooling walk pirouettes, and some seat-only halt transitions.

But the majority of today was me working again on his suppleness (through leg yields across the long diagonal) so that he can be a little more adjustable longitudinally. He gets stiff through the topline when you change the length of his frame - it takes him a couple of strides to adjust - so I want to nip that in the bud now, and elasticize him that way. I want him to feel like a slinky - smooth adjustability every which way.

It was hotter than a forest fire today, I tell ya! almost 30 degrees and no wind. We only schooled for 35 mins or so after our warmup....but I set up my iPhone on the marker at 'C' and turned it on. Trouble is, I rotated it the wrong way so I have to figure out how to flip it right side up. In the meantime, I took a whole crap ton of stills from it.

and here. we. go....

first 5 mins of trot - active but tight in the throatlatch

canter getting much better. still too long behind the saddle here though

we hadn't ever tried counter canter before - he does auto hunter lead changes  so it was a surprise he stayed as balanced as he did!

the counter-canter helped to get his hindlegs under more and fill in the space behind the saddle

which in turn helped his trot become more uphill and again, shorter behind the saddle. He's a little tight in the neck here, and who knows WTF my right hand is doing way up there??

And when I tried to bring him back from the lengthening, he stiffened through his topline and lost his balance..

canter is coming. It's his worst gait, he doesn't bring his outside hind forward enough, or have enough oomph in it. his inside hind is great though. gotta work on the outside!

trot looks great here. lifting in the shoulders, coming through behind, filling out the dips both at the wither and behind the saddle.

I have to remember going right lead canter, to shorten that left rein and get  my hand a lot closer to his neck. His shoulders like to drift out to the rail.

our working trot is becoming much more stable!look at the muscle line at his wither. ..we still have a long ways to go but it's starting to develop. Unfortunately this is too high for his neck, it will cause his back to drop in the next stride or two if I don't lower it an inch or two.

then we worked on our lengthened stride in trot - his medium and extended trots are going to be fantastic!

I let him get up too high in his neck again. Good effort on his part to try to keep his hindlegs going though

he loves to lengthen - he lets his back really swing and it makes me laugh!

and then we transition back to a regular trot and everything goes to crap. gross neck, not using hindlegs properly, dip  both in front and behind the saddle. I am not strong enough in my core yet to ride this down transition very clearly - I should know to make it more gradual so I can keep him together.

starting LY from left to right - front legs cross nicely

as do the back legs! maybe too much left flexion though,

that's better with less left flexion

right to left LY is much harder for some reason. He has a tricky left shoulder - never wants to stay straight so he tilts his little face. It's a work in progress.

he's very flexible though. For a horse who had no idea what a leg yield was, or  even what a lateral leg aid was one month ago, he's come very far

and that lateral work really changes the angle of their pelvis - it rotates under much easier when they are supple.

little too round here

trot looking good, my half halt looks like it got stuck right in the middle of his neck though.  I half halted to bring his haunches under and to lift his shoulders more, but it only went as far as his throatlatch.

and so this is what happens right after - drops his back, gets too high in his neck and I take a bump to my lower back. ick!

But all in all he's coming along really nicely. It feels like sometimes when I half halt in the trot he offers a bit of a collected PUSH with his hind legs that tells me he's folding them really well and not just slowing down or plopping onto his front feet - it feels like he has a passage somewhere in there that might be easy to access in a few years.