Fumbling toward a new thing

I got the opportunity to have a lesson with TD yesterday -- apparently it was some kind of holiday, and apparently everyone in the world wanted to have lessons with MT.  ;)  Anyway, TD was able to find room in her schedule for me and Apollo.

And I am so glad she did.

We worked on the same basic things that MT works on with us -- contact, connection, straightness, flexion, and push -- but in a very different way.  Instead of being concerned about working to bring Apollo's head down, TD worked much more on my contact and position.  She had me bringing my left shoulder back when tracking left, dropping my right shoulder down away from my ear, and paying close attention to keeping my leg under my hip, not behind.  And sinking down through my legs more, keeping them long instead of letting them contract.

The entire feel of the lesson was different than I get from MT.  Definitely not bad, definitely moving toward the same goal, but different.  I really enjoyed riding with TD!  I came away feeling like I was doing something right, but ... I'm not entirely sure how to replicate it or work on it on my own.  Like there's this Concept! or Idea! that I'm on the edge of and need to understand better.   It's a very cool feeling, actually.   For us what like to learn, a puzzle like this and the feeling that the breakthrough to understanding is juuuuuust out of reach is downright awesome.

So yeah.  Apollo and I are both processing the lesson!   Any bets on who'll come out tomorrow understanding better?     Nah, me neither.  He's unburdened by all this human brain crap, so he'll have absorbed way more, way faster.  :)