We've had quite a positive weekend and I feel like today has made a big difference to both of our confidence. So I decided to experiment with using our blog as a little exercise diary.
Yesterday, we went out for a hack with Merlin and Abbey. We managed to go up into the woods via the estate and although we followed Merlin for most of the way, we had a bit of an experiment with going in front which was good. This is when Abbey asked if we would like to join her and her cousin in their lesson the following day. As I'm usually a complete wuss, I do prefer a private lesson where I can humiliate us both in peace. However, for some reason, perhaps it was the positive ride, I said it would be fun.
The lesson time came this morning and I was already feeling sick and dizzy. That was even before I realised that we were about to be hit by a storm as well. However, I practised a bit of deep breathing and we were ready to go. I warned the instructor that I was quite nervous and he said having been around me (in the same barn) and Kennedy, he'd already realised this and that it wouldn't stop him pushing us but that it meant I needed to let him know if I'd reached my limit.
However, after about 10 minutes of riding, Ian decided it would be best for him to get a feel for Kennedy by riding him himself. He showed me how I could use the crop to make a noise on my leg and his numnah that would speed him up and soon, with a couple of dissatisfied bucks, he had him going quite nicely and even doing circles in canter. He confirmed what I think we all knew - he's stubborn but has it in him and said he'd quite like to school him for me to get his confidence up in the school and he felt this might have a positive impact on mine when riding him in there. Once he'd finished riding, I hopped back on and led a ride with Kennedy and Izzy (who can be a little nervous).
This afternoon, Kennedy had an appointment with a physio. She felt, also, that perhaps he is looking too much to me for confidence as he likes to walk behind me to the field and around the yard. I also mentioned that he comes to me when feeling worried for example when he was being lunged by someone else. She felt this had some positives but that he was expecting all the confidence to come from me (which it isn't) and that he should also show some confidence and that we needed to work more in harmony so that we could give each other the confidence we need and feed off this.
