Tacked up western, Chewie, round pen, 45 minutes. Warmed up without side reins, perhaps a bit too long. Got a phone call near the end, and I didn't want him to just walk or stand, so I kept the trot going.
Climbed on and got to work. Good solid trot. I considered asking for canter right first, sort of a "get it over with" feeling. Nerves set in, so I got back to the left. Nice trot, nice canter transition. Worked on two transitions up & down, about 3/4 circle each time. Focused on sitting on toosh, inside leg on. Second canter, I put too much inside leg on accidentally, and he absolutely picked up speed. When I said to him, "oops, easy boy", he went right into a trot, sort of saying, "Okay, Mom. You confused me, but I'll slow down lots to keep you happy."
Got back to the right, asked for canter, and immediately felt the saddle swells push me back. Had a loose rein in one hand and saddle horn in the other. I focused hard on my seat, leaving my heels and shoulders to the wind. With a loose rein in the left, and a stiff right hand, I'm sure my upper body shoulder area was tense, and I'm 98% sure my shoulders weren't spread out, but swallowed inwards. I do know my seat was a lot better than it normally is at canter-right, since I got about 7-8 strides, and he came back right when I asked, rather than when he got tired of me losing balance.
Plans for tonight are repeat the saddle, and canter right again, this time trying to get a full circle around, so I can get myself into more of a routine at canter-right. Canter-left is just fun. It's easy to ask him into it, and he knows I'm secure, and each stride is a careful footfall.
Chewie's cuter than Big Brown... No matter what. I keep telling him that, at least when I'm hosing him down after a work session.
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