Half-Pass is umm... hard.

Well, after riding yesterday AND today, I am befuddled. I feel bad that I can't get the hang of half-pass, especially because I could do them pretty well eight or nine years ago! I have totally forgotten the feel of it and as a result, I'm making it confusing for poor Henry! Hopefully in my lesson tomorrow I can get some more clarification on the aids and my position in this tricky move. I concentrated on doing really good leg-yield, haunches-in, and shoulder-in today and didn't work too hard on the half-pass. We also got some awesome trot lengthenings (though for some reason I always want to sit two strides at the beginning and end up on the wrong diagonal), and worked on getting prompt down transitions from trot and canter.

I had the day off today, and I hit the gym for some cardio this afternoon and then had a healthy lunch. It feels GOOD to work out and get my muscles going. I even love the medieval looking ab-crunch machine. I can also tell it is helping my position and my riding, although I bet it would be a lot easier to tell if it weren't so darned cold up here in Siberia, New York. Ugh, and the worst part is, this week feels like t-shirt weather compared to last week, because even though it is only reaching the mid-20s this week, at least we're on the right side of zero!

I was supposed to be teaching a lesson tonight, but none of my five students showed up! I don't know if it was the weather, if they got lost, or if they thought there was no lesson because of the holiday, but I guess we'll just make it up later on. This is one of three lessons a week I will be teaching this semester, a PE class that a local college offers. Should be pretty fun, but I am a bit nervous as I don't want to disappoint anyone! I will be sure to post about those as soon as I get some students!

In sadder news, one of the mares I took many years of lessons on was euthanized yesterday afternoon. She was in her late 20s, probably around 28, and had been losing strength and balance over the past few days. She was born and raised at the barn, never left it, and lived a great life. I know I spoiled her rotten when I rode her, and she was bought by a guy who took really great care of her. She had the most beautiful tail you could imagine, thanks to his careful grooming. She was comfortable up until her final days, thanks to his meticulous feeding and supplements; he even gave her injections for her joints, even though she wasn't being ridden. She got to graze every day (during the warmer months, obvs) and as she passed, he asked her if she could see all the pastures with all the green grass. I know she will be missed.