Captain of the ship

Had a great lesson on Saturday afternoon with centered riding instructor Jo Forster... who spotted in 0.3 seconds that I'd gone back to my old habit of letting Cady do pretty 20m circles in the middle of the arena while totally avoiding the outside track.

We avoid it because Cady pays me no attention and spooks constantly so Jo reminded me to stop being a passenger, get a plan and get her over it.

Cady: not looking thrilled at having to do as she's told...

What a difference...half an hour later and we had truly made friends with the whole arena and not just the 'safe' bit near the gate. I must remember to be the 'captain of the ship' as Jo puts it.

God knows how good these Olympic riders feel when they win medals...I was over the moon with our tiny improvement!

Still, you've got to start at the beginning and the great thing about Jo's lessons is her ability to get to the heart of issue and get some progress underway.

I've done several join-ups with Harvey over the past week and he is a dream. I do want to get him checked over physically though so I've put in my request with a physio who comes highly recommended. In the meantime I still want him to feel like he's got a job and figured a trot around the round-pen won't do him much harm.

Happy Harvey 

 While I'm at it I'll get Cady looked at too as it's good to stay on top of these things.

After my lesson on Saturday I treated myself to a swim and a sauna, though I spent a lot more time in the sauna than in the pool! I must make an effort to get really fit - 2012 is going to be a big year for all of us. Go to http://www.joanneforster.co.uk/ to book a lesson with Jo - I highly recommend it.

Proof we've met the outside track