Gia - session 228 - flatwork on a windy day after several days off. what could go wrong ... ?

 Amazingly, Gia was really good today!  I hadn't ridden her since last Tuesday, due to the holidays, and it was super windy today.  So, I thought things would be a little sketchy, but she was fantastic, even a little lazy!  

There was a little bit of drama as we worked today, but nothing too bad.  When I first got on and started walking her around, stretching down, she noticed the new "toy" I had bought recently for her, which came in a few days ago.  It's a set of cavaletti blocks that I can use to build different kinds of jumps.  It's the same thing that Charlie uses as filler for some of his jumps that she tends to be terrified of, causing several stops.  I bought her a set of three different colors to practice over.  (One set came in this weekend, but the others are still backordered.)  When she first saw the white blocks, she slammed on the brakes.  I had her approach them, asking her to move forward off my leg, and always releasing as soon as she moved forward, even if it was only a step or two.  She did a bit of snorting and blowing, but kept working her way closer, and eventually stepped over the pole  between the two blocks.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to get a video of her first approach, but I did get a video of her second approach, and it was much better!  She hardly reacted at all after the first time through.  

However, as the wind blew hard, several barrels tipped over and rolled about the ring.  In addition, a chair on the outside of the ring blew over.  In each instance, Gia jumped a little, but once she realized nothing was going to happen, she quickly ignored it and moved on.  This was a really good test for her, and she passed with a "B"! ("A+" if she hadn't spooked at all 😉).  

Meanwhile, we worked around the arena on the usual stuff.  She stretched down really well at the walk, and at the trot, but we had a hard time keeping the stretch during the transition.  I also worked a little on the canter in each direction.  She got all her leads, but she did start to get quite anxious trying to anticipate the canter.  Each time, I made her wait until she was more relaxed.  All in all, she did really well considering all the conditions!

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