considering Try

I woke this morning with the thought that Try is always unhappy this time of the year. It is hot and the insects of various types are bad so being in her pasture late afternoon, overnight and into the morning is not necessarily relaxing and pleasant. The greatest comfort is being in her stall during the day under the fans etc and she tends to stand in one place and sleep. The problem with that is boredom. She seems cranky about leaving her stall part of the time and annoyed that I am not taking her out of the stall to do things (graze? especially) as much as she wants. Short term play with a task--riding and on the ground and in the ring and back paddock have been going well. She does seem much happier after a good workout and shower--takes away the tension and irritation she feels.

She has been particularly disinterested in dressage work--of course, issues with my tension/body position when something goes awry does not help. (Homework for me relaxing my position in the canter especially and if something changes that threatens my lower back to go to 1/2 seat.) In the lesson Thursday with Kathy it took 1/2 the lesson for Try to quit focusing on the gate and escape--if fact, if Kathy had not been coaching me I likely would not have broken through  to get the nice trot we finally found. The trick for me is being to anticipate and give Try other things to think about than the gate. Try was relaxed after we finished the lesson and when I saw her later--after her shower and in her stall, she seemed very pleasant and content.