Hallelujah!

When I woke up this morning, the first thing I saw through the skylight was the blue sky. Hallelujah!!

The wind was very strong and the horses were a bit jumpy. I took Anky into the barn, she was unsettled and distracted. I started with raising her head, lifting the bit rings to the corners of her mouth, asking her to carry her head at a reasonable height. She has a habit of shaking her head,then thrusting it down, which shakes off my light touch on the bit rings. After a few minutes she started to settle, keeping her head at a nice level. I then moved slightly to the left side and took the right rein, taking a very light contact on the corner of the mouth and held it just behind the poll. Then with a light feel on the left bit ring I asked for relaxation. I could feel the tension on the corner of her mouth, then she started to relax and suddenly I felt the release, it was amazing. That sounds completely over the top, but it really was. There was no tension in the jaw and the corner of her mouth was so pliable and soft. I asked her to walk forward and she stepped forward retaining the lightness. I asked for halt and there was a slight resistance so I raised the bit to the corners of the mouth and she responded with a nice halt. I did the same on the right rein and we managed to get relaxation on that side too. We managed flexion smoothly from left to right without tension or tipping her nose. I am very pleased with her.

After coming in early yesterday, the horses were impatient to go out and had a mad five minutes in the field before settling to eat. It was beautiful, like a dance, it could have been choreographed.

Now I must search the internet for "things to make with eggs"!!!!!