Gia - session 920 - flatwork at CDP

 Gia did a lot better getting on the trailer today!  She walked off, almost unfazed, with her shipping boots.  We approached the trailer the first time, and she put two feet on, hesitated, I gave her a few seconds, asked for more, then she came off.  I promptly put her to work, then went to put her back on the trailer.  The only thing I did differently is that I led her from the "off" side.  She often likes to stand crooked, so I was hoping this would get her straighter, and I would also already be on the side I was planning to work her from if we had to go at it again.  She went further up the trailer, but got her head on the wrong side of the divider, so I gently helped her move it back over, then she finished loading, and we were all good to go!

At CDP, she started out very anxious, so I put her to work right away.  Charlie had me ride her much straighter, so I worked on going in straight lines across the width of the arena, and changing direction each time.  She was a little spooky, but I kept her going forward, and she got over it.  She started to do better at the walk, so we worked on the trot, with several walk to trot transitions thrown in as needed.  Then we added in collecting and lengthening at the trot, but only in very small amounts, and still with very straight lines.  I also focused on keeping my hands out in front as much as possible.

Finally, as she was more relaxed, and the trot was fairly together, we added canter transitions, then back to trot, and quickly to walk and halt, if needed.  She was great to the right!  She was still out of balance to the left, wanting to throw her hind end to the outside, and managed to get a few bucks in, but I was able to keep her going through it.  We managed to finish with a few canters to the left with no bucking though.