Last night's lesson was great. I wish I had pictures...or video...or both!
From the very beginning, I kept my reins loopy, but still kept a light feel of his mouth. I also tried to maintain a certain level of trust in him, believing that if I let him have this little bit of softness, he wouldn't try to take me like he has been the past couple of weeks.
We trotted and cantered around to warm-up, and aside from some head tossing when we first started cantering (anticipating being asked to really collect from back to front, maybe?) he went long and low, and his ears were either forward or cocked back listening to me.
Then we started jumping.
I gathered a little more rein, but still tried to keep a slight loop and a soft, steady contact. He was pretty well engaged behind, even though I wasn't pushing for it. And, we cantered 4 or 5 courses without arguing, or having to pull up because he was hanging or trying to grab the bit, or even generally having an attitude.
There was one instance, over an oxer, that felt like if I had had him super collected, he would have tried to grab the bit and buck. But, I stayed soft, and released, and he landed and was like, Hmm, I could...nah, not today.
He was generally happy, soft, round, and even stopped sucking back -- for the entire lesson!
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