This is what progress looks like.

(I know the picture is terrible quality. It's a freeze-frame from a video. A video which my internet can't seem to handle uploading. So this might be as good as it gets. But it is good!)

Can we talk about just how NOT crazy this horse looks for a minute, please?

Ace and I didn't have a lesson today on account of it being Easter Sunday, but I did take advantage of the sunny weather and work with him this afternoon. He was so wonderful. He is on a roll lately. We have nothing but great days.

My parents were in town so my Dad was kind enough to sit out by the round-pen and take some video for me so that I could share it with you.

But, back to talking about Ace...look at Ace! We certainly aren't perfect yet by any standards. But, for Ace, this is a lot of progress. This is a lot of hours spent re-training the basics. This is a lot of frustration, and joy, and dirt, and dust (God, so much dust- this drought needs to end), and steps forward- and steps backward, and goofy days, and great days. This is what work looks like.

Ace is floating here. For this split second captured in a frozen image on a computer screen- Ace is floating, and I am floating with him.

Progress is beautiful, people. Progress is beautiful.

"Dreams aren't perfect. They come true, not free."

I began writing this post in my head two days ago, after Ace and I had one of our best lessons yet. I wanted to rush inside and post about it, but I knew I wouldn't be able to find the words to do it justice. I'm still not sure I'll be able to, but after writing it in my head for two days- I am going to try.

I choose the quote above to begin this post because it's exactly where Ace and I are in this moment. My dreams for him are coming true. But, we are a far cry from perfect, and we are working our asses off to get there.

When Ace used to move with a rider, he went forward like a small child jumping between the furniture in an attempt not to touch the lava that is the floor. He was never sure of anything. He couldn't figure out how to put his feet down, or where the ground was, or how his body worked. When I touched my legs to his sides his head would shoot up and his back would arch. If I moved the bit too much, he began to panic. To ride him in the round pen was a disaster. He didn't know how to bend his body in a circle with a saddle, let alone a rider.

As a result, I became a rider without contact. I kept my legs off of him, rode with a loose rein, and we stuck to straight lines. He could move forward while I sat on him.

I knew this was all wrong, but didn't know how to fix it. How to fix it has taken Michelle teaching me how to teach Ace to start over.

This week, I got a taste of what a confident Ace feels like to ride. There was no more sporadic foot placements from his insecurity. He is not only sure of where the ground is, but he is sure of his ability to cover it. He now reaches for contact with the bit. He relaxes when I move it. We both have a new grasp on how to use the bit to create a line of communication between us.

On Sunday, Michelle took us off of the lunge line. We trotted. But, not in a goofy green horse trot. A real trot. A confident trot. A trot that felt like Ace was saying, "Look at me now. I am HERE." More than that, we trotted in circles. Ace and I both began discovering that he can bend in the middle. Even with a saddle. Even with a rider. Even while moving forward. His body bends!

More than everything he's learning though, is the change that's in his head. He is thinking. He is willing. He wants to learn. He is happy. He is an absolute joy to work with.

In the next few weeks, we are going to try a canter.
This has me thinking about our goals. It is high time I made a list of them. So, here we are:
- Canter on Ace
-Walk, Trot, Canter outside of the roundpen
- Have a lesson at a schooling show
- Go on a trail ride
- Participate in a fun, simple, dressage show
- Do a competitive trail ride
- Do a limited distance endurance ride
- Do a 50 mile endurance race

I'm not setting a time line, because I don't want to rush things. I don't care how long it takes to get to anything. Time doesn't matter as long as Ace and I don't stop working. As long as we never give up.

Dreams do come true. But, they certainly do not ever come free.