It’s not the end of the world, but I have a long way to go. I start off okay here but just start to lose it after a couple strides - stiffness, leg swinging, etc etc. It’s rough to watch because I want to be so much better than I am, and I can never FEEL that my hands come up or my legs start to swing, but I have to remind myself that’s why I’m learning and training with a coach.

Sometimes progress can feel very slow, but I have to remind myself just how much Milo and I have improved in such a short time. Special thanks to my coach for helping sort out this mess!

by a lucky coincidence I found a new trainer that isn’t too far away from me and she comes out to me once a week now. Yesterday she was here the second time. We did some nice work in walk and trot and as I was trotting away happily in a circle, she was like, ok, now just canter a bit. Given our shaky history with canter I was like “uhm do I really have to??” She laughed and told me, just try it, I’m here, and he seems nice and calm. So I cued for canter and he actually just gave it, no bucking, no storming off... I was still very nervous and stiff haha but trainer happily cheered me on “yes, like that, sit back more, try to relax, you’re doing great, it looks nice!!” :P haha I am so happy!! And Schimmel was such a bae <3 

SO, one of my riding instructors told us to make some achievable goals for the near future. I'm putting them here because why not, but also because writing it down helps me process it, ya know? These probably sound pathetic and I'm such a beginner, but we all start somewhere. I want these to be realistic and achievable, but I still want to challenge myself. 1) Walking: Lateral movements; I want to be able to get the horse to take 2 nice, smooth steps to the side. No forward or backward movement at all. It doesn't have to be super pretty, but it shouldn't take super long, and should be actual steps, not an awkward stumble. 2) Trotting: I want to have better control; I'm not very in sync with Violet, the horse I ride at this facility. I can deal with that at the walk, but at the trot I can hardly even stay on the wall. I want to be able to do round circles and figure-8's with Violet without her drifting off or walking. 3) Cantering: I want to be able to canter one FULL long side of the arena without losing my balance at all, without holding onto the saddle, and be able to go back to a trot without yanking on the reins (I keep yanking, probably because I don't want to be in canter any longer than I have to. This is really bothering me). I don't know how long-term these goals are supposed to be, but I was imagining it would be around, like, 6 lessons? Keeping in mind that these lessons are every other week, and in between them I have a lesson at another facility, this means I'll have 3 months; 6 lessons at this place and 6 at the other place. 12 riding sessions total to learn all this shit... seems reasonable, right? Challenging, yes, but possible.

So I haven't really posted very much about my baby lately, considering my blog has kind of turned into a fandom blog. But after today's lesson I need to rant about how amazing my girl is! Airborne's been doing so incredibly well these past few months. We've been taking more lessons and jumping more and she's really getting the hang of it. And she loves it! In today's lesson, my coach put the "scary stuff" under the jumps and raised them to about 2'5-2'9 and Airborne handled all of it like a champ! She is such a willing horse its incredible! I just put leg on and she soared over each jump, it was amazing! We will definitely be ready for shows soon! I still can't believe I've had this opportunity to train her! I couldn't have asked for a better horse and coach to be honest. I feel so incredibly lucky and blessed every day that I get to work with Airborne...