Between being tired from watching the Olympics at insane hours (figure skating between 02.00 and 06.00 is painful) and having too many little jobs to do, I’ve had a scatter-brained week. And of course the riding report fell between the cracks.

I was on Heddvig again, and while the overall result was no more than adequate, I am definitely feeling as if I am getting the handle on how to ride her. That doesn’t mean I am always doing the right thing, but at least I have some ideas for what to do. Not without exception, though. One lingering issue is getting a proper bend to her left; she overbends her neck so easily there, and with her short neck and short body I am finding it difficult to have the right effect on her.

I am also finding it hard to get a feel for when she’s escaping work, especially to the left. I ended up getting a bit of a rude wake-up call, though. After the warm-up, where we had just ridden circles in each corner, we added moving into a shoulder-in down the length of the arena. When I was told she wasn’t really bending right and tried to ask for it…she gave me shoulder-in with bucking.

At least it told me that I was on the right track.