Lazy, or just exhausted?

Tuesday was suppose to be a barn day..... buuuut with all of the rain that came through the south (although I am very thankful that we did not get as much as parts of Texas), and having some wedding stuff to do, and just being tired and needing a bit of a day to relax, I decided to give Otter  (and by Otter, I mean myself) the day off.   So, I slept in a bit, then hung out with the dogs while I watched some TV and made a few calls to check in with the vendors for the wedding.  Finished the day with some shopping.  Definitely was the type of day that I needed, even though I felt a little guilty for not visiting Otter.

So on Wednesday, when I finished up with work, I headed out to the barn even though the weather was sucky.  Had to ride in the indoor around lessons due the the outdoor rings being flooded (it had stopped raining by the time that I got there) .  Cleaned off the muddy pony and tacked up, then headed to the ring.  Had a fairly good dressage ride.  We did our norm - bendy shapes at the walk and trot to warm up, did some canter, then walk, some lateral work at the trot and some more canter.  He was pretty good - really responsive to my inside leg and would balance up fairly quickly with an outside half halt.  He just felt a little off - not lame off- just not quite as balanced and forward as he normally is.  It honestly might have been me - I was really tired and actually had trouble making it home after our ride (at 5pm....).

We aren't good at the selfie pictures

Surprisingly though, he didn't grind his teeth at all during this ride, which is why I ended the ride fairly early.  Still not sure why he does some days and doesn't on other days - but the consensus at the barn is that at this point it's probably out of habit and we just have to work to break the habit now.