I broke him!

Today was our LAST lesson in which we'd be returning to T's after. Moon and I headed out to W's barn and I didn't know what to expect. Two weeks ago he was a devil under saddle and I was feeling a little defeated. Last week I had the most amazing, best performance from Moon to-date, and I couldn't believe how great he was moving.

What would today bring?

I'll tell you.

There was another girl working her big paint in the ring, but I was happy to have a chance to work him with another horse around. See if he could stay focused on me. I should say, by and large (except a few times when the other horse was cantering or bucking), he did.

W had us doing transitions, circles and lots of leg yielding. He's becoming a superb leg yielder, at both walk and trot. He's also giving me a great turn-on-the-fore, not even needing to take steps anymore. So W decided to step things up a notch...

And for the first time, after only 5 months in training, we schooled SECOND level! : ) We schooled shoulder-in.

W told me to give it a go, ran through what aids I'd utilize (seriously, I have t-o-t-f so well in my head that she tells me everything based on that!), and we gave it a go.

Our first attempt was better then expected, but not really shoulder-in. W did an awesome thing. She took the reins from the ground and guided us as I worked the leg cues. Through that, I had a better concept of what I was aiming to do...

...and did it. It wasn't perfect, but we had crossing over and were working on 3 paths! We probably had a 15 to 18 degree angle from the wall (you want to be at 30 degrees), but for a first try, that's pretty awesome! So we did it 5 more times!

I was beyond pleased with Moon. Not only that, but he did some lovely figure 8's, circles, leg yields and even 3-loop serpentines. My dear old backyard trail pony had been transformed into a well-broke dressage horse!

And then I hear from the other girl in the ring "Wow, he's a lovely mover! He's like perfectly proportioned!".

: O I'm sorry, were we talking about MY horse?!

5 months. Less then 5 months. For all of this. I mean, he is getting TOPLINE. He is responsive. He is...awesome.

: ) And by and large, I did the training under W's guidance and skill. We got here together. And it feels soooo darn good!

I'm giddy to move there next week. GIDDY. The thought of schooling all winter has me wishing I didn't have to work and could ride all day, every day. This is awesome. My pony is awesome.

...I think he'll deserve his new gear. : ) Such a good little pony...