Gia sessions 1322-

 Monday 9/21/26 - It was a busy day today with fall vet check ups going on, but I managed to get a decent ride in on Gia.  I allowed her to wander around the arena while I focused on my position - symmetrical feeling in my feet, pulling my thighs out and back, and relaxing my seat and legs.  Once that was feeling easier, I noticed that Gia was nicely relaxed, moving freely, and reaching her neck nice and long.  We started to work on the trot, but she immediately got frustrated and fussy - tossing her head, swishing her tail and swinging her back end.  I was working on keeping myself symmetrical, which in turn would help her to stay straighter.  However, I think that when I was getting things correct, I was relaxing my left leg too  much, and then she was falling apart again.  I tried just keeping my left leg as a constant on her side, but not too hard, just a steady, light contact.  She was much better behaved for the rest of the ride after that!

Tuesday 9/22/26 - I rode Gia today with a bit more focus than yesterday.  I started out working on my position and relaxation at the walk.  I have all intention of going out there and only focusing on one or two things with my position, so as not to get spread too thin with everything I am focusing on, but then I feel like I have it fairly good, so I move on too quickly to something else.  When what I should really do is just stay steady with one or two things until they are more solid.  It can be a bit more boring, and seem to take a bit longer, in the beginning, but it will actually end up going much quicker, if I can just dedicate the time to really getting the one or two things very correct before moving on.  I will redouble my efforts tomorrow ...

Meanwhile, I helped Gia with her rhythm and attention.  She was very distracted today, but when I was able to get her attention on the rhythm of the work, she relaxed a lot and was really able to get into it better.  We even had some much better transitions at the end too!

Wednesday 9/23/26 - It was a bit chillier, and a little breezy, and we all know what that does for horses.  Gia was definitely a little "up" when I brought her out into the arena today.  She wasn't too bad, just more distracted that usual, by all the same things.  Danielle has been working with another horse, Ava, while I have been riding Gia, because Ava tends to get upset when other horses are being worked around her (especially Gia).  Probably due to the weather, Ava was a bit more agitated than usual as well, so Danielle ended up bringing Ava into the arena with us (she usually works just outside and on the edge of the arena).  As soon as Ava came in the arena Gia popped up and tried to go after her.  I quickly pulled her away, and put her to work on a small circle.  Apparently, the feelings are mutual!  I went back to the work I had been doing on rhythm and relaxation and attention, and before long Gia was doing very well.  At the same time, I was also working on my position, like I have been this week.  At one point, Danielle had to get after Ava for kicking at her, and it happened to be right when Gia was passing very close to Ava.  It startled Gia (who had been behaving), so she popped up again, this time a little higher though.  I had to avoid Ashley, who happened to be picking up poop at the same time on the other side of Gia, so I couldn't do a small circle.  We sort of wormed our way out of that one, and then I put Gia right back to work at what we had been doing, and she quickly went back to her correct behavior.  She even felt very relaxed!  But the drama wasn't over ... When Danielle was finished with Ava she went to turn her out, but the foal slipped through the gate and into the arena.  I had been watching, and was prepared for the inevitable emergency dismount.  I handed the reins over to Ashley, helped get Mackie back where she belonged, and then got back on Gia to finish my ride.  Believe it or not, Gia was still very relaxed when I got back on!  We went right back to the work we had been doing, and finished up with just a little bit more to confirm it was still there.  Despite the small rears, I was very proud of how she came back to a state of relaxation after each incident.

Friday 9/25/26 - Today was another breezy, cool day.  Gia started out a bit anxious and spooky at all the things blowing around, but I stayed calm as she checked stuff out around the mounting block, so she eventually settled.  As we started out around the ring, she was immediately anxious about lots of stuff, due to all the wind.  I focused on a steady, upbeat rhythm at the walk, and also focused on putting her on a clear path, wherever we went.  It didn't take long before she was quieter and more relaxed.  

Her respiratory rate has been really good the last several days, and she had been pretty relaxed, so I decided to ask for the trot.  She immediately got tense, sucked back, started swishing her tail, swinging her body, raising her head.  I loosened up on the connection, and kept gently sending her forward.  It took her a minute, but she eventually started going forward, instead of in place, and we found a nice forward but relaxed rhythm at the trot.  We rode several more walk to trot transitions with no drama at all, and found the rhythm between the gaits very quickly, almost immediately.  She got a little anxious when Ava came through the arena, but I quickly changed direction and got her attention back on the rhythm and path, and she relaxed in no time.  She was also giving me lovely down transitions as well.  It was a nice end to a nice ride at the end of the week.