We are getting much better at the connection, and Harry is finding it, more often than not, to be lighter and not hanging. Of course, my job as the rider, is to focus on this, and on my position and not to get into that position in the first place.
Our walk was much nicer. It's really important, when you don't have mirrors or someone with a correct and critical eye to keep you both on task. His walk opened up much more quickly, and he was overtracking in the working walk more consistently.
I had some difficulty with keeping a connection at the trot, especially as he tends to fall in on the open side of the circle. The better my focus and relaxation in my hips, the easier it was. He did not tire as quickly, and since we kept the work time shorter with more transitions to walk, and back to working and medium trot, we had very good results. From the walk into the trot he was to go forward into a joggy trot keeping the connection and keeping the tempo. Speed was not the issue, regularity was, and until he was steady and soft, we were able to lengthen and shorten the steps on the circle. He was more regular more quickly than ever. Once I had the plan for this part of the lesson, we moved on to the canter work.
Once we established the working trot, we got a good transition into the canter which was balanced and quiet. Just as important was the down transition from canter to the short bouncy trot, and back up to canter without diving down to the ground. Until we had the same results to the right, we did not go to the stretching. When we did, I felt him really come up through my seat, didn't power off or lean, and was a joy to ride.
