Rode Elle yesterday in the middle of the day, and the sun & heat again made her a little sluggish and unresponsive. I need to work on that - our shows, events, and trail rides are all going to be in the middle of the day, hopefully with the sun out. She needs to listen.

She wasn't bad, just not very forthcoming with energy. Once I cantered her, the trot got better, and we worked for a little bit on, "more, NOW." It got a little bit better. I felt deep in my seat and heel, but I did feel like I was rocking up her neck a little bit.

We went for a NICE canter, me in my half seat, all the way around the ring, and we maintained it through the corners. It was good, I was happy.

She felt nice after a bit, and the fences from the previous few days had all been lowered to "us" heights. So, we went to the first one, and she was GREAT. I closed my calf a little bit, not my spur, and stayed the same. She pointed her ears to the fence, and made a great effort over it. I was really impressed by her!

We ended up working on 4 different fences, all out of the trot, and she was good to all of them. I even was good! Not spectacular, but I'm so used to jumping Harley, and it's been so long since even that. I keep expecting big jumps over little stuff, or to be jumping big stuff! It'll get there, and she was a star - never even looked at a fence that I was pointing her at.

I think that the place that we need to go, now that I know she's okay with the fences, is to gymnastics. I think they do great things, especially for young horses, and they might keep her momentum going through the whole combination. I need to invest in a tape measure!