Silver's Owner Rides!

Silver came to me a month ago with some behavioral issues which fortunately were easily resolved with management and tack fitting.  I've enjoyed riding him and getting him ready for his new life off the track as an eventing horse, but what makes me happiest is seeing his owner ride him successfully!  I got some videos of their ride today.

This is Silver's nice free walk:

Here is some trotting:

Here is a lovely right lead canter (previously very difficult for Silver, but now quite nice!)

Silver's left lead canter is pretty good now, too!

I often video my riders while they are on their own horses for a couple reasons.  The main reason is that we as perfectionists are much harder on ourselves than we need to be.  I can't tell you how many times someone finishes a jump course or a lap of the arena at the canter and says, "Well THAT was a hot mess."  Most of the time it's not nearly as bad as the person thinks.  I take video so they can see I'm telling the truth when I say it actually looked pretty good! 

The other reason I take video is because riders tend to think they are going faster than they actually are.  When they can see themselves on the video riding a horse who is barely jogging or barely loping (despite the rider's brain telling them, "Slow down!  We're galloping madly around!") it makes a difference for self confidence. 

I'm super proud of this pair, and really eager to watch their progress together!