This week felt less odd than last, but something’s definitely feeling off for me when I go to the stables. And I can’t quite focus as well as earlier.

That said, we had a different instructor since Ulrika is on holiday, and a different way of teaching means you pay attention in a different way. You’re not necessarily more attentive overall, but I feel you need to concentrate a little more on the instructor when its someone unfamiliar. So, that kept me from focusing entirely on myself and Heddvig but it also limited the random thoughts.

Because it was a substitute, we ended up working more generally with bend, flexion and canter. I am getting a better grasp of how to affect Heddvig’s sides, though getting her shoulder into the body is something I still don’t have a good feel for. She’s so short and compact that I don’t quite have a sense of how it should feel on her.

When we got to the cantering, she actually cantered several full circles quite well (with bonus bucking whenever I put a little extra pressure on her), and it was quite helpful for her that we were fewer than usual. After the circles, though, she had gotten really wound up and I couldn’t quite manage to canter her along the full length of the arena. It definitely got my heartrate up a little. However, I think the main reason that I ended up taking her down to a walk wasn’t that I couldn’t have gone ahead with it, but rather that it felt stupid to let her do it just so I could prove a point to myself. I think I could have done it, but it might just encourage that sort of behaviour from her. After all, now she has shown she can canter in a more controlled fashion.

No new horse this week, so still bleak prospects for my options. I am considering trying Graf and/or Cyklon, but they’re both more than a little taller than I am comfortable with so it has to be done when we won’t be doing any cantering to speak of.