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But I have found that I’m getting what I need. I have a musical background so I have songs running through my head – a lot. It’s like my own personal radio station that only plays the songs I need to hear, not necessarily the songs I want to hear. Hey Mr. DJ, how about something like, “Everything’s coming up roses, and daffodils…”

We originally weren’t planning to show this year but there’s a one day schooling show that’s close so we’re going to try our hand at it. It’s in two weeks so we have a lot of work to do. Our trot work is very good – figures are getting precise but that gosh darn canter! It’s been going well but we hit a wall again. I’ve spent most of the summer riding without my stirrup irons so I can develop my seat through concentrated use of my core muscles. That work has paid off for my position. My lateral work has greatly improved and I can feel when Tory’s back is up and in self carriage as well as catch when he’s off the aids and ready to bolt. He was quite naughty yesterday which he hasn’t been in some time. I had an awful time getting him to keep his back up and into the right lead canter depart. It really wore me out! That’s the only part of the test that I’m concerned about. We’re going to keep working on getting a smoother canter depart. That’s the only way to make it better.

I’ve managed to find a wonderful chiropractor that has been working on me for the past two months and that has been a tremendous help. The greatest thing about this chiropractor is that he does home visits! How great is that! My right leg in chronically shorter than the left leg and the muscles on the right side of my body contract as a counterbalance so my body doesn’t fall over. Consequently, I have difficulty sitting equally in the saddle and have a tendency to sit to the right. As a result of this chronic crookedness, Tory will not depart correctly because I’m not balanced. I’ve had this problem with all the horses I’ve owned so this horse is teaching me how to be straighter – it’s not what I want but it’s what I need.

The weather has been very “un co-operative” this summer. We’ve had record rainfall and once the every day rain stopped, the sun came out and got very humid. I have a terrible time with the humidity – I’ve gone to the emergency room several times because I can’t breathe. I’ve been riding in the mornings when I can – it’s cooler and has a better flow to the day. I’m really looking forward to autumn!

We’ll do the best we can at the school – you have to start somewhere.

…but I ain’t got wings, comin’ down is the hardest thing…Tom Petty really got it right – it’s the song that keeps looping through my head these past months. Tory and I have been home now for about 8 weeks and have made huge strides (pun somewhat intended) in working together. My right foot has a dull ache to it but I have no issues with it riding. My left knee has a scar from where I hit the ground from bailing off of Tory but it’s functional. Since the weather has improved, we have gotten busier so I haven’t been riding as much. I ride at least 2 to 3 times a week when I can.

My steadniess, timing of the aids and ability to move the horse around are all getting better. I am working on my sitting trot – not just the ability to sit the trot but to use my body correctly. The hips are always supposed to work in a back to front motion, especially in the trot and canter. With all the driving I’ve been doing, I’m getting stiff and lopsided again. When I’m not riding, I’m on the torture, I mean, Pilates reformer home machine I bought in January. That’s been helping to strengthen all my muscles. My hips aren’t following the horse’s motion in the right direction as much as I thought I was. My hips have been going more side to side which is motion against the horse, not motion with the horse. Need to work on that more. With all the difficulty I have had with the canter, that was part of it. From sitting trot to canter, the hips need to have the same motion so if I don’t have it in the sitting trot, I won’t have it in my canter transition.

We have finally broken through the canter ceiling, so to speak. I am able to get Tory into canter most of the time, nice transitions but still some not so nice moments. I’m learning to get this horse to fly…