When you travel...

The end of July leading into August were busy for me with a quick trip home and then out to Chicago. D was off for basically 2 weeks. Kara, a young lady from the barn, took him out to graze and groomed him and all that but he didn't have to exert a whole lot of effort. Which is why getting on him, even thought it was a thousand degrees out, after said time off, was not the wisest of choices. I came off and have a pretty messed up left pinky finger due from the rein twisting and a very sore left leg. I think I got stuck in the stirrup or just on the saddle due to how sweaty I was. Based on how my leg feels I'm thinking I got stuck on the saddle because I definitely twisted my hip flexors.... sigh.

The good news is that once I get on him (hurts a ton to lift my leg) it doesn't hurt to ride. But today trotting to the right was apparently super complicated for him but thanks to a conversation I had just had with Sarah about how we have to listen to our horses. (She was telling me how this prevents coming off, too. :)) I decided that if we couldn't do a decent circle to the right at a walk we really had no business trying it at the trot. So I focused on that and took him over a pole several times to re-focus him, by the way "step- up" has been the perfect verbal cue for him. :) We never did trot to the right after he tried to buck for the second time this week, but we did get a pretty decent walk circle to the right with a relaxed horse and rider still intact.

Success...