Feedback from Teri!

I've been really needing this. I haven't seen my regular instructor since last fall. I've been working in a vacuum, basically. So, today the silence was broken and Teri gave me a lesson for about 90 minutes. I am so glad, too. I got some important feedback and one of the big things was regarding my Liberty tape. She send, "Send it in!". I've been holding off thinking it's not perfect, but she said send it in anyway! And so, I will...

We worked on haunches in, stretching her long and low (horizontal flexion), and we re-shimed my Theraflex and talked about how she looks physically. She felt that her look was improved, but that she still wasn't developing good muscle around her withers. Will watch and see if the new shim setup helps. We also need to work more on horizontal flexion and making sure I do some of that on the trail at times. We talked a lot, which I really needed. I've had no guidance for too long and my growth is stifled. She said that we had improved, but not as much as she'd have liked over that many months. Tough to get compliments out of Teri. :-)

When they first showed up she mentioned right away that we had to work on my Finesse. My horse was stubbing her toes on all 4's (instead of just the rears like usual), her shoulder looked rotated forward and the wither development wasn't progressing. So, I immediately thought I was in for a rough lesson. However, once I explained that I had done a 13 mile ride the day before, she thought that might explain it all. She watched me ride and didn't notice me doing anything terribly wrong. She never says anything like, "Wow, that's great!". It's more that she says, "I didn't see anything blatantly gross looking". Maybe she wants to be sure I never get conceited? :-) It's a teaching style that can be brutal and leave you feeling small and I've had to learn to cope with it.

Anyway, I have some great things to go work on and I'm excited. Specifically, I need to work on horizontal flexion at all 3 gaits and do more passenger lessons at the canter.