perfect timing

in terms of the weather. This morning i really thought i'd not be able to do anything with Molly - it was raining, then when that stopped the rain got up, then later it was horizontal rain... got to the yard about 4, having put dinner (stew) in the oven and had lunch after a day out (been to pay for queenie's keep) - blue sky, wind slightly dropped, arena sheltered...

So after i'd done the chores (and everyone had got their's in for the night at only 5 pm!) i lunged

Bitless bridle, lunged over poles. First just one pole, both directions, then two poles, both directions.

That REALLY woke Molly up. First time going right she wasn't having it and I had to go back to MAx's techniques to get her back listening to me (advantage of the BB, it acts like a pressure halter as well when needed, not as much, but enough to make a difference).

Then she decided canter was good, so I moved myself so she was circling round the poles rather than cantering over them (actually, i was impressed, it's AGES since she's cantered!) then when she'd calmed down a bit moved back down so she was trotting over the poles again.

When she was eventually trotting over them calmly, brought her in and changed rein again, then two more times each rein, finishing on the left rein.

I can really see the way this is helping her use her back end, and work out where her feet are, and it should help her balance right rein as well much more than she as, as she's also forced to think about what she's doing rather than just rushing round.

I could really see her thinking about it as she was going round (the lick/chew thing...)

This was, of course, what I'd had planned for Monday, but probably its as well I did it in daylight first!

and then as I was leaving the yard, the rain started again, so even more perfect!