New Years and Christmas Eve Rides

I haven't done much riding these past few weeks with Christmas and New Years going on, but I did ride on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve. Christmas Eve, I rode Ronnie in the arena outside of a lesson for the first time. When I was getting, she wasn't wanting to stand still and was impatient, so my more experienced friend Maddie lead her around one side of the arena with me on, then gave me advice. She said to keep Ronnie on a loose rein and not be nervous.

 Surprisingly, Ronnie was just the opposite for the rest of t he ride and needed a lot of leg to go forward. However, her canter was really nice. It was balanced, without being too fast or slow, and I kept her on the 20 meter circle without using my outside hand. It felt great and was one of those rides I didn't want to end.

 New Year's Eve, I rode Moe instead. I was geared up in my new boots, breeches, and belt that I had got for Christmas. Moe was relaxed and wasn't her usual racehorse fast self. It took my a bit to get used to my new boots, but by the end of the lesson, I was even gripping with calves, which I have been struggling with these past two months.

 I wasn't able to get left lead canter, which Moe has some difficulty with. She's likely sore on one side because she's an older horse. When she gave right lead on a left circle, I simply made a diagonal to fix it. At one point she cross cantered and it was hard to maintain my balance,so I returned to trot and changed direction to canter right instead.

 At the end of my lesson, I practiced my dressage test, Training Level 1. It went very well, except for the left lead canter part. Moe just wouldn't canter left. Only just before the canter was supposed to be over did she canter on the left lead for a few strides. I patted and praised her, then completed the test,which went smoothly the rest of the way.

 I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Years. and have a great 2015! Also I have something exciting planned but won't let the cat out of the bag until February so stay tuned!I'm just getting the last few details planned out.