A visit from the dentist

Last week Fonti had a visit from the dentist, and sadly his mouth was not a pretty sight. After the treatment he had a few days off, since he should have some bitless days after the teeth floating. On Thursday we were back in business, and I could really feel a difference! Fonti has a tendency to pull and sometimes "hang" on the reins, but now this is almost gone. I always thought it was just my fault, holding on to the reins too tight. Turns out there are some dangers to being (too) self-critical...

Yesterday J helped me. We worked mostly on controlling Fontis tempo (slowing it down!) without falling into the trap of 'backwards riding'/still keeping him in front of my legs, in addition to bending (serpentines and 10 m half-voltes) and walk-canter transitions.
I know I should work on my co-ordination outside of the stable, it would help me a lot in my riding, but I don't really enjoy aerobics or similar classes. Maybe I can find some other way to improve it...

Take-home-message(s):
*more upper-body strength (apparently I sit like one of those dashboard dolls in the trot...)
*remenber to praise him when he does something right (or at least tries to/shows a reaction)
*stop hanging on to the inside rein like it's a safety blanket!
*outside rein controls the tempo, inside rein only needed for slight bending on curved lines
*ride on the second or third track to make sure that he listens to the outside aids

P.s.
Here's a really interesting blog-post (in Swedish) about horsegirls and the difference between the impression non-horsey people can have of life in the stable (a fluffy world filled with girls decorating ponys with pink bows) vs. the 'real' deal (falling off, long hard hours mucking out etc.).

Now: school work!