Update on the Catch Rides

First, Miss L.  Miss L's owner decided that (in spite of her doc's orders) as long as she could get on and off from the right side (since her left knee was the injured one) she'd start riding again.  All went well with the mounting/dismounting, so while I was away she started working Miss L herself.  However, she asked me if I'd be able to stay on and ride 1x/week even though she couldn't afford to pay me & I agreed, on a tentative 'so long as I have the time' kind of agreement.  Last week I took Arty and she, Lacey, Arty, and myself headed out for a trail ride.  She was nervous about getting Miss L out, so the pony and I stepped in to help.  It was a fantastic ride, & both Miss L and her owner did fabulously.
Yesterday I planned on riding Miss L in the ring, then ditching the saddle (as it was supposed to rain & I don't want to ruin that gorgeous western saddle... I think its a Billy Cook or some other expensive model) and heading out for a bareback trail with a friend and her horse.  The arena work went fabulously, and Miss L was being so good I decided to ask for a walk-canter transition just to see what happened.  She felt totally ready for it, but I was still pleased when on the second try she popped straight into a canter!  Go Mare!  From there we did some the other way (her bad way) and then worked on some flying changes.  Her changes actually rode greener than her walk-camters.
In other news, I now have the pleasure of earning some real money riding a mare some long time blog readers may remember.

Majik is a 8 or 9 year old morgan X who started out life as a dressage horse before being left in a field for a while and then sold to her current owner.  Her owner started out life on a horse farm bombing around on her families QH & ponies in a western saddle.  Switching to this little dressage mare was a bit of a change for her, but the pair get along well.  I've ridden Majik a few times while her owner was away, & was essentially given the opportunity to hop on her whenever I wished.  Her owner always said she could tell when I rode her horse because Majik was much better behaved!  Its amazing how having your horse respect you changes your ride... anyhow, with my insane schedule I rarely rode her so in essence her owner offered me cash incentive to ride & train her and the horse once a week.  The incentive worked (hey, as anyone who rides will tell you, you can never have enough money.  With all the expences Cadence has cost me this winter, [vet bills x5, saddle fitting, massages, etc.] I could certainly use a little more cash flowing into my account) and  I'm now signed on to weekly training sessions with the pair.