Jill was glad she'd taken him out to the grass ring, even though they were calling for thuderstorms. He was good out there for dressage work for a change!
It only took about 10 minutes til he was really on the bit at trot, with lots of changes of direction and transitions. His left side was harder than to the right, but she kept flowing back and forth. They worked on lots of transitions too, including canter-h a l t, and Jill thought it actually helped them to improve their downwards tranitions. The best one was when it only took about 6 steps to establish the appropriate tempo, while he stayed on the bit.
To keep it interesting, as a reward, Jill took him for a walk to the sand ring. That reminded her of when you warm up in one ring at a show and then ride over and perform in another one, so she collected him up again. He came together instantly. They worked some transitions in there, which were pretty good (relatively speaking of course), and when she checked her watch, it turns out they'd worked an extra 25 minutes in there. Time flies! He was so good.
She took him back to the grass ring and handgalloped around each direction a few times. And then, she approached the rails in a cross country fashion! It was fun, he liked it. And so she was brave about his speed too, and he was easy to get back in hand when she asked, even though he was only wearing the copper D. What a good boy!
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Jill spoke to the boss/horse's owner about Checkmate. Jill said that they could get it together but they'd really have to scramble around to get everything ready by Sept 13 (mane pulled, coggins, overnight stabling, accomodation for us, X-country school beforehand ETC.) And, the expense!
Jill really wanted to get him out to a dressage show, something different just to mix him up a bit and so that he didn't always anticipate galloping cross-country when he gets off a trailer. The boss agreed that the time and expense can be directed towards better ends.
Jill went into "In The Ribbons" and tried on both brands of hard hat they carry, in her size, and she hated them both. The new regulation helmets are so big and bulky and tall - she hated how they sit and feel and look, and didn't get one. She did however, exchange the top hat and put it towards a beautiful new show jacket - black and feels great! It looked so sharp while it was so comfortable. Jill had seen it in the shop before her very first show and had it stuck in her head ever since.
She picked up a few other items they needed for the grooming kit - a different kind of curry for the tail, a replacement for the broken/stolen flash noseband part, and a rubber glove thingie. The bill was $72 after the exchange. Usually the boss would cover these expenses, and Jill was owed $35 for the trailering to Caledon, but she wasn't going to bring it up, since the birthday gift top hat had cost $250.
Jill always said she could tell how much her mount liked the work they'd been doing by how hard or easy he was to catch in the paddock.
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