I think I can, I know he can.

I posted about yesterday's right while I was still kind of reeling at how good Red is doing and I didn't really write enough about what I wanted to because I was still in the  "oh my gosh oh my gosh my horse is amazing" mood and just wanted to brag/not get sappy. So here, ladies and gents, is the sappy post.

I'm really proud of Red.

Most of y'all will remember that I had a trainer out a few months ago to help me with his terrible trot. Red refuses to collect himself for some unknown reason unless he has a bit in his mouth, and then, as we all know, he flips out because he hates bits, no matter what. The trainer didn't work out for reasons I don't want to post on here which I was bummed about, but oh well. Basically, I gave up for awhile and decided to just love my horse regardless and deal with his trot and learning to post the trot better. I knew using a bit wasn't an option.

Then, things seemed to click. My EQ started improving a lot when I switched saddles (it's amazing what a good saddle can do) and Red started improving a lot along with me. And on our last 2 rides, Red has been a total rockstar. And he's jogged. He's slowing down, he's collecting himself, he's using his hind-quarters and his neck is looking amazing. It's weird - the moment I started taking the pressure off of him, when I threw away thoughts about different bit options and gimmicks, he started working so beautifully underneath me. When I started working more with him as the horse that he is and not what I imagined he should be, it all clicked.

I always thought I had potential to be a decent rider. I'm not tooting my own horn at all (I stink at posting the trot. I am awful at sitting the canter. I'm timid, I'm anxious, I need to be more comfortable. I could go on) but I'm being honest. Key word in that is thought. But I knew that Red had that potential and I started letting him work more and I stepped back a little bit. I stopped forcing it to happen and just let things flow.

And suddenly, my horse that refused, I mean flat out refused, to jog and collect is collecting and jogging like a Western Pleasure horse minus the peanut rolling and drugs. (I'm joking by the way, western pleasure people, I love you and your blingy outfits.) I'm not some amazing rider. I don't have an olympic trainer.

I'm a teenaged rider with her first horse learning every single day.
I've taken one single lesson.
But hey, I'm making this work. And I have all of you guys to thank. The blogging community rocks and I've learned so much from all of you and I thank you all for being my little online helpers.

I'm just beyond proud. I feel like Red and I are finally coming together. Not that we didn't have something good before, but now that we can  train? Reach both of our potentials? Oh geeze, I'm pumped.

And to everyone who doubted us, I'm working 10 times harder to prove you wrong.

Boom.