I don't know how people ride down here all summer.

I went out to the barn after work on Wednesday (it's my short shift day at work) with the intention of going out to the jump ring.  However, when I got to the barn and checked the ring out, it was still too sloppy from the rain we've been getting and I was feeling slightly too lazy to set up jumps in the covered.

So I swapped my plans around and worked on some more dressage work yesterday.  Warmed up then started doing spirals in and out at the trot, then moved into them at the canter.  He did really well at the trot and it really helped him balance up.  The canter was a little bit iffy, but we will continue to work on them.  We took a bit of a walk break then moved on to some shoulder ins and leg yields at the walk and trot.  Called it a day after that - we were both drenched in sweat and it was hot.

Cooled Otter out, hosed him off and cleaned up my tack then headed home.

Thursday I went out to the barn first thing in hopes of beating the rain storms.  I check out the jump ring and it had dried out enough to ride in. He warmed up really well, and I started jumping the X at the trot and moved into the canter after a few times.  Everything was going well, until he got a little tired, and I think I did as well/lost my focus/stopped riding, and started screwing up my distances which gets him super pissed off.  So we got a few long spots that I wasn't prepared for, and then I chipped him in to a few deep spots, and then he gave me the big old finger.  So we went back to trotting the jumps till we were on the same page again, and then moved back on to cantering them which went well for a jump or two, then started falling apart again, so we went back to the trot and got a few nice relaxed jumps and called it a day.

Lesson learned - keep jump sessions even shorter than I have been because the humidity saps both of our focus.  

Got Otter all settled up after the ride, and brought home my brushes to give a good washing to clean them up from the winter grime/spring shedding season/skin funk.  This is my weekend to work(12 hour shifts on Fri, Sat, and Sun) so I won't be able to head back out to the barn again till Monday.