Hola Ride #7- Awesome

Last night we hauled Hola out to the same indoor we were at on Monday night. When we got there a couple of ladies where there having a barrel racing lesson and another boarder was riding her big warmblood. Three strange horses, two extra people watching/coaching and us made for a busy arena... or at least a much busier arena than Hola has ever seen. It was a very dark and rainy night which meant we had to tack as quickly as we could which added extra bluster to the evening. When we walked in the arena Hola was certainly bug eyed...

but we both settled in to a corner to quietly watch the going-ons. Eventually the barrel racers left and after cantering (which did freak Hola out a little) and cooling out the English girl left as well. I spent the next 45 minutes walking around the arena talking to Laurie about stops and just having Hola tag along with me. At about quarter to nine I thought I would get on Hola for ten minutes while Laurie cooled down. Hola was very relaxed by this point but actually hadn't worked besides walking around with me. I got on and she walked off so I bent her to a stop, waited a minute then asked her to walk on. I said to Laurie that she really felt like she was fixing for trouble, her back felt high and she had a lot of energy. Laurie watched for a minute and said she Hola just looked really happy and was moving out beautifully. After a few minutes Hola stretched out some and I relaxed a little. As we turned a corner I felt her really step out and I said to Laurie, "I think she wants to trot!" So I put some energy in my seat and she stretched out some more but didn't break gait. So just to let her know she could go I gave her one small cluck and off she went. I could feel her tense up a little as she felt my weight bounce on her back. She went about 6 strides and kind of stalled. I walked her forward and waited for her to relax again and then put the energy in my seat and off she went again at a trot (no cluck). This time we completed one full lap with just a few stalls that I clucked her past. I sat and said "whoa" and she went from trot to stop without a single walking step. I thought my heart was going to burst I was so damn happy. I was so worried that I was going to slow. Last night I night I realized that Hola was going to tell me when she was ready for more. It is not that I think there is anything wrong with moving training along at a more productive rate. But Hola and I are going to go at our own glacier pace and I'm going to stop worrying about it. Last night Hola actually asked, "Hey, can we trot?" and when I said, "Yah, let's trot!" she went forward in a relaxed and confident fashion. What a great filly!