Boot camp for my seat... (booty camp?!) :)

It's been super busy around here for the last few days. Preparing to head out to my trainer's place tomorrow morning. Val and I are doing a five day clinic... riding him in the mornings and doing a lunge lesson in the afternoons on the school horses, with my trainer and I trading off lunging each other. I expect that I will be very sore - oh my aching hips - but am looking forward to it. This kind of opportunity doesn't come around very often so I'm taking advantage.

My goals for the clinic are:

• A more secure seat / more confident rider.

• We've got "calm" down - now I want to focus on "forward". This will stem from the secure seat. When I ask for more energy it won't be half-hearted or timid.

• Solid transitions up and down in the walk and trot, with Val reaching, stretching and using his back.

• Leg yielding and baby lateral work.

• Ideally we'll attempt some canter work as well. 

• Some new photos and possibly video

 I've measured out and bagged feed, prepared the trailer and packed Val's belongings - he sure has a lot of stuff :) We're taking an assortment of blankets as the weather is so changeable this time of year. And we just received his new Cavallo simple boots which happily fit him perfectly. These will hopefully protect his tender soles from bruises - he got pretty ow-y on our last visit. Tack, first aid, grooming, buckets and of course treats pretty much fills my trailer's tack compartment.

Then there's cleaning and tuning up the truck - I changed the oil today + checked tires as well as cleaned all of the hay / sand / barn residue and rain-xed the windows. Trailer - check. Truck - check. This doesn't even take into account packing for my dogs visit with my Dad (Bob Daddy's Doggy Day Care) and my own stuff lol!

I'm hoping I'll have computer access while I'm up there. If not, I'll have a full report when I return next week. Back to packing!