Gia - session 253 - more dressage

 Gia started out very relaxed, and even a little slow.  We worked a bit stretching down at the walk.  I have a dressage test to ride with Butch tomorrow, so I free-walked my dressage test on Gia today to practice the pattern.

Once we picked up the trot, she got a bit tense.  I think she was anticipating either the canter or the lengthenings that we have been working on.  I did a lot of varying figures - small, medium and large circles, figure 8's, half circle reverses, etc.  I encouraged her to bend around my leg, and did a little bit of leg yield, haunches-in and shoulder-in.  

When she was a little looser and more relaxed, I asked her for a little canter in each direction.  She was fairly prompt, although a little tense.  She did pick up the correct lead each way.  She didn't keep the canter for very long at first, but by the end, she was keeping it longer.

We finished with a little more free walk, and, once again, she was very relaxed.

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