It was 63 degrees this morning ...

... and Tiki and I loved every second of it! The only bad thing is I don't "stick" to the saddle as well because I didn't sweat too much today, lol. Had a darn good ride today. I had 2 moments that I wanted to kick myself in the butt for, but overall a pretty good day. I left his bridle with the Waterford at the other barn because I'd cleaned it there during camp on Friday, so I had to use his "trail bridle" with the french link D-ring and the figure 8 noseband. He's definitely not as relaxed thru the jaw, which means his neck wasn't that relaxed, but he wasn't too bad. He does the head cocked to the outside while he grinds his jaw thing in a regular snaffle. Canters felt GREAT, I really had to push him forward; he was very SLOW today. Didn't miss a lead. Cantered the cavellettis again today, and he was fine. I need to go ahead and lengthen them to 9' because his stride is definitely NOT short. Cantered the pile of poles and nailed the distance. Trotted into the 2'3 vertical and he was perfect. Turned around and trotted the 2'6 vertical and he stalled out right before he jumped, so I got WAY left behind and got him in the mouth.:( Patted him, cantered the 2' cavelletti perfectly, then trotted into the 2'6 vertical again; perfect. Cantered the 2' cavelletti again, but was off on my landing track and ran him into the standard of the 'pole stack'.:( That was just a dumb blonde moment, grr. Did the cavelletti and STEERED him over the poles this time, and it was a perfect little bending line. Trotted into the line, and he made a little bid at the jump and cantered the last 2 strides, so I had to push for the 4 ... he got a little flat, but jumped out fine; I simply had no time to stop. I stayed on track and halted straight, but technically we were out of the ring, lol. Cantered the cav/pole bending line again, then went straight to the line; much better. Nailed both distances, and halted straight again ... out of the ring. Decided to cut my losses and trot/canter for the final time. Gave him a good verbal "whoa" coming into the line, and he responded BEAUTIFULLY, nearly slaming on the breaks. Added my leg, he trotted nicely, then I balanced up for the 5 strides, and he jumped out like a CHAMP; round and responsive. Let him finish there. I was just THRILLED to find a distance today, and he didn't drop a single rail. Hopefully I will do some long trot sets in the back pasture tomorrow.:)