First Lesson, and Delilah's First Week of Training!

So, it is official - my little mare has completed her first week of training! First and foremost, my hat goes off to Kelsey Briggs for the amazing work she has started with Delilah. We had our first lesson Sunday morning, which was actually the first time she has ever seen me ride my mare! I took a joint lesson with Robyn, and we trailered her gelding Linkin over for the first time. We had an absolute BLAST working with Kelsey for the better part of an hour and a half. She was so good about flipping back and forth, helping one of us, then giving homework to work on for a few minutes while she focused on the other....She is an awesome instructor.

I have to admit, I had the minor fantasy that I would get on and Delilah would show this immeasurable improvement...turns out that I am going to need just as much work and she does! I know this for a fact, because we worked for quite awhile on getting a nice steady contact at the trot, but our biggest problem (as usual!) was the consistency of her gait and the contact. Turns out, I know that I will need a lot of work as well, because Kelsey hopped on her for a few minutes to demonstrate a couple of things, and after ONE slightly rough circle, she had her completely together and looking PHENOMENAL. I was absolutely amazed. She had her going in figure eights, with perfect (and correct!) bend, engaged behind, and with steady contact in her hands. I have never seen her look so incredible.

She does her training rides in the morning, so I am actually going to stop out tomorrow before Samson's vet visit and hopefully get some pictures or video to add! I am really excited to see the progress continue. She is doing the most incredible work with her!!!

In addition, I have met the most amazingly generous woman who boards at Robyn's farm, who has offered me total access to ride her warmblood mare anytime I want while Samson recovers from his injury! I rode her for the first time on Friday night, and she was an awesome ride. She is a huge mover, and a very steady and trustworthy jumper. I am so excited and grateful to have the chance to continue to ride her!!!