Where are we at now? Riding Stormy in the video everything felt…easy. He was in front of my leg and super responsive—he didn’t need a firm driving aid; he just went on his own. His stride opened up and I could maintain a solid connection to the bit without him coming against the hand or being disconnected. He also allowed me to move his neck and place it where I wanted without getting stilted. Progress! However, what I see is different than what I felt. Stormy is more behind the vertical than I had anticipated, even though I pushed him solidly up to the hand. (In the subsequent rides since this video, I have worked on keeping his throat latch more open). The fact that Stormy’s pushed solidly into my hand is pretty exciting: he prefers to be behind the leg (and contact), baiting me into giving the reins, giving my elbows forward and keeping an open front door. My elbows remain at my sides and there ... read more...