Montana Monday: Getting Edu-ma-cated

Montana's dad was away this weekend so I got more ride time on the big red man :)

Lessons with Montana and D have been going well.  After the last time I rode D had a not so awesome ride on Montana, so we've changed our lesson format a bit.  I get on Montana first, find out what kind of "mood" he's in, and toddle around for a few minutes to either set the tone or give him a little attitude adjustment.  Then D gets on and we get on with our lesson.  It's been working out well and I've been making sure to find places to end on a good note.

When I rode Montana this weekend he was great, but I do realize I really need some help with the guy.  For D he's been good, and with me he's been good too, but I'm not really sure where to go next with him.  Since the last time I truly brought along a green horse was Mollie, and that took around 10 years, I'd like this time to be a bit better :) So I've called in a woman I used to ride with frequently, and whom I love, and will hopefully be taking a lesson on him at the end of this week.

Now I'll leave you with a really long video, I apologize it's from the trusted iPhone and not an actual camera.  I'll bullet some note worthy moments below, incase you don't want to watch all 5 and a half minutes of the wild thing.

0:00-0:30: Montana has SUCH a hard time trotting through the back left corner of the ring without pacing/cantering.
0:30-0:35: Proof that he CAN actually trot through that corner.... it's just so hard.
0:45ish seconds: I swear he is not lame.... just awkward and clumsy.  Also, trotting circles to the right is the hardest.
1:00: Mild Montana Meltdown
1:50: Major Montana Meltdown
2:09-3:00: Oh just a black screen because I don't know what happened and am too lazy to fix things.
3:19: I ACTUALLY ASKED FOR A CANTER TRANSITION AND GOT IT
3:40: We still can't circle right
4:00-4:05: So when we DO circle right Montana just leans into my right leg so mother-effing hard.  So then I push back and he responds with the weird butt/tail swish thing.  He's trying.
4:10: But we can circle left!!