Gia - session 327 - Gia subs in our drill team practice!

 One of the horses that we typically ride in our drill team is out of commission for a while, so I decided to try Gia out.  I had to get a dressage ride in on her yesterday anyway, and thought it would kill two birds with one stone.  In drill team, the horses have to ride very close to each other, both side by side and front to back.  Some horses can't handle being that close to others, so that was the real test for her.

She did FANTASTIC!

Our practice was only about 20 minutes, and all we did was walk and trot.  I mainly started out just making sure she wasn't going to be naughty with any of the other horses.  She was every so slightly tense at first, but quickly relaxed, and was absolutely perfect the second time through our test.  Then I was able to focus on keeping her straight between my aids, as well as not too slow or fast.  Tempo can be a challenge for horses and riders in drill team because you have to match each other, and, of course, not all horses have the same natural tempo or stride length.  Gia did very well with all of it, and was actually quite adjustable!  She also has a very smooth trot to sit, so when we practiced our test at the sitting trot, that part was easy!

I might contemplate making this substitution a permanent one . . . 

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