Working on suppleness

Lucy has been consistently really hard to ride to the left. She doesn't really turn, she kind of moves sideways. At first I thought she was being resistant but after last night's ride it was clear that something is way off with her (I'd suspect a few ribs are out on the left side and maybe some SI issues are present, too) and turning to the left is physically uncomfortable for her, poor girl. This explains her tendency to rush going to the left, and that whole nose-to-the-outside thing that she does. The chiro is coming out on Monday so until then we will take it easy. During our ride last night, we did a ton of circles at the trot (I don't think I stayed on the rail for more than half the length of the indoor). Everything was circles, serpentines, "snowmans" as a girl at the barn called them (start with a big circle, go across the diagonal into a medium sized circle, go across the diagonal again into a small circle, and then weave backwards through the pattern until you have traced a snowman shape), and spirals. She seemed to do really well.

My new (used) saddle is arriving today and I am pretty excited!

Also, check out what arrived in the mail today! It's the win photo from Lucy's one and only victory in December of 2008 at Philadelphia Park: