my horses keep me sane!

WOW WOW WOW....90% of the time when Star sees me now he whinnies and comes rushing up to the gate! He's really changing and it's amazing to watch this creatue finally starting to like me!! He is offering places for me to massage him, at times he is very particular about where.. to the point of gently placing his bum in front of me! Was very interesting to see him do this. TRUST is a big thing for this horse. Scout and I are coming along well, he enjoys it when I play with him and ask him to match my gait. He was quite intrigued to start off with but he's got the gist of it now. When I trot he trots, I walk so does he, I "try" to canter and he works it out! He's offering a lot more. What have I been up to. Well I have been avidly reading Karen Rolfe's new book. It marries NH and Dressage and I am loving it. It comes with a DVD that I have watched half of and I am hooked. I was concerned that doing NH and feeling it was so "right" and then thinking about my previous dressage training and the feeling it was so "wrong" made me upset. I love dressage, I may not be very good at it, my balance is not as good as it used to be but I am passionate about it and that's what really matters. I am also looking at saddles! Well which way to go. Treeless yes but they look funny....are they as good as is promoted? Balance...well they look lovely and more what I am used to and the praise for them is high...Fluidity Saddle...looks lovely too. I am going to try an Ansur saddle. It looks like the best of both worlds. It's treeless, it allows you to "feel" the horses back, it won't give your balance away by placing you in the correct position. It looks like most mainstream saddles when it's being ridden in and only looks different when there is no one on it. Anyway Star will tell me straight away. He's my sensitivity litmus test. Oh yes. Have been getting them all used to different things. Yesterday they all had their teeth done......with a power rasp carefully used by the operator. NONE OF THEM NEEDED SEDATION!!! Not even Star who needed to be knocked out like a prize fighter 8 month ago! It was a big day cause the farrier came as well. No troubles from Star here either...just telling me he was a little stiff but nothing like what he used to be like. The farrier was so happy, he made comments at how calm and relaxed he was. I am progressing through the ground tasks of Leve 2 and enjoying the practicality of it. Am looking forward to riding in the Ansur saddle, I have it on trial for 2 weeks so will let you know my thoughts. 3 weeks till my next school with Christine Corbidge and looking forward to it! Cheerio for now. Hope you are all well and happy. Ps. My Dad came to watch me play the other day. He said afterwards, "You looked like you had no idea of the time, the fact that it was freezing cold and rainy. You looked truly at peace and in the moment." I had to agree. Horses keep me sane!