Today I learned something special from Rusty. I've been keenly trying to learn this lesson with every ride since my clinic time with Mark Rashid. It's about how I sit, and my desire has been to learn how to sit so that I no longer interfere with Rusty's movement.
I've been making strides (no pun intended) each ride. Rusty might not think so. I'm sure it upsets him each time I'm pitched too far forward and/or tight in my back, causing him to hop around with his hindquarters like a fish out of water. Poor boy.
I do this when we are cantering to the left. Not to the right. Mark and Crissi, his assistant, helped me identify where I was blocked in my energy (seems to coincide with tightness in my body), and helped me find a better way to ride. But it was a kindergarten lesson with them, simply opening my awareness and setting the stage for my progress to continue here at home, which it has.
[Interesting addendum: a week or two ago when I was riding Rusty out on the roadway -- only safe footing around here some days -- he cantered just fine on the left lead. So something is different in me when I canter him in the ring versus canter him out in the open. As soon as the footing improves and my general mental stability returns to a level where I trust my decision of when and whom to ride, I will explore this further.]
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