Gia - session 912 - dressage lesson with Suzin

 I started Gia out with a nice, long, stretchy, free walk in our lesson with Suzin yesterday.  As I picked up the reins, I worked on getting her to soften and yield to my fingers at the walk, and through the transitions into trot.  When I asked with a light leg aid for the up transitions and she did not respond promptly, I followed up quickly with a pop of the whip.  She started to give me much nicer transitions!  We worked on bending, leg yields, stretching, getting her neck nice and long and low.  We also worked a bit on shoulder-in and baby half-pass at trot.  Gia was actually giving me some real nice moments there!  We had some nice canter transitions, and some that weren't so nice.  When she was not responsive, and I followed up with the whip, she sometimes retaliated with bucking or kicking out.  I kept at her until I got what I wanted.  I always got what I wanted.  However, one time, she almost won.  She bucked me up so high, that when I came back down, I landed in front of the saddle on her neck.  I clung on with both arms and legs, as she cantered around the ring, and I was reaching for the reins to get her to stop.  Luckily, since her neck is so long, and since she likes to put it up rather than down, it's actually not too uncomfortable to ride, so I managed to stay on and get her to stop, and then pushed myself back in the saddle.  She stopped bucking after that ...