Finally the Riding Starts Again!

Although my first couple of weeks in Germany have been amazing, the riding has been very slow to start! This is because of my toe, which I told the story about the doctor "operating" on last week. I couldn't ride for over a week because of pain and risk of further infection :(
Considering this, and knowing I had to go back to England to do an interview with Cirencester College for next year's A-levels (yes, I'm going back to college! To finish once and for all) I thought the weekend would be a good time to go, and then I could come back in the week and start riding straight away.
So I spent Saturday to Tuesday in England and flew back on Wednesday morning. It was nice to see my friends again (even though I had only been gone a week, we had prepared ourself for months apart with emotional goodbyes so it still felt like we hadn't seen eachother in ages!) and go out, but I was seriously missing my riding. I had a successful interview and got accepted into college, which is great. Except that I now have to go back for another two weeks in the middle of June for an "A2 Starter Week" where everybody in the new A2 year does lectures for two weeks to see what its like and meet everyone. What a pain! I am trying to get out of it but I'm not sure if it's going to happen.
So the day I arrived in Germany it was REALLY hot, so I was keen to ride my bike 15km to the yard in my shorts to attempt to get a tan. It took about an hour, but I wasn't tired or anything and really enjoyed it. I want to ride there every day, except for one small problem that the bike seat hurts my butt and when I ride my seat bones feel bruised, which is not good! I will have to buy some sort of fluffy seat cover then try again.
The Chiropractor came to see Seb on Tuesday so for Wednesday and Thursday he just did stretching in walk and trot. I am already feeling a huge difference in him even when just doing basic stuff, he is so much more connected and I feel like I can actually sit on his back now, rather than it feeling a bit dipped and hollow. He is still a bit cheeky with the spooking and squealing, but for once it is getting fixed rather than everyone just laughing and thinking its 'cute'... its not so cute in a test though!!
Chad was on fire yesterday and today though! He feels amazing when he is full of energy, like his hind legs are coming through his belly. Today I pushed him out in the canter to get his body freer, and he threw in a cheeky kick-out or two which every young horse should be able to do once in a while. He felt so much better after I pushed him out though, like all of his freshness was being put into moving rather than being bottled and making him tense. Something that is very different from England to Germany is that the Germans aren't afraid to take risks and see what happens. Most riders tend to ride conservatively and don't like to upset the picture, and ride "all in one colour" as Leonie says. I find it useful to think colourfully, so that if I'm painting a picture with my riding it is done with all different colours, not just the color blue. This adds another dimension to riding which is a lot more than just looking nice and correct. It is the difference between riding, and TRAINING.
So it feels really good to be back riding properly again and really feeling the difference in Seb, plus learning more and more about how to develop Chad. All in my ideal way of riding, Leonie's way. No other way has suited me better, its like I was born preconditioned to her system. However since it is so hot, I'm looking forward to maybe finishing early one afternoon and go to the 'beach' (lake)!