Pro's lesson from Friday

So I know I'm an awful slacker and didn't get this posted...anyway, it was quite the lesson. He was quite good for the first 20min, and we focused on loosening my dependence on the inside rein, etc. Until suddenly he had a slight hissy fit and went giraffe-face on me. I put my hands up and kept them there but he was stubbornly stuck. Gayle walked over, tweaked his head and said that he really WAS stuck. Well after that, Pro figured he was done with the lesson. He hit the lazy button and leaned on my inside leg.

Clearly, this would not do. He refused to get off my leg even after I opened my inside rein and kicked him repeatedly. So Gayle "gave me spurs" with her car keys as she worked the inside rein - WOW was he mad!!! From there I had to just keep opening with my inside rein and keep kicking. He kept giving me the wrong response - going faster and still leaning on my inside leg. I wasn't allowed to bring him back to a walk, I had to keep asking until he gave me the right response. Imagine us cantering the world's tiniest circle...yup. He FINALLY got off my inside leg but still tested me a bit throughout the lesson. Gayle said we're finally getting to the deep dark parts of what he stubbornly does not want to give up - the last little bits of control.

After that, he returned to his lovely self and we finished the lesson just fine. We even cantered, on purpose!! Haha, it makes me feel like I'm nine years old again, to say that, when I used to be so excited when I could canter in a lesson. :) But yes, we had just a wonderful canter. He's so cute when he tries to figure out how to canter now that he's rebalanced! Makes me excited for Andrea's lesson on Friday!