Thinking straight and riding sort-of straight

Wow, Dada used "so great" more than once. I think I am getting it.

We lowered the left stirrup and I tried to push down on that all the time. I did sometimes, and that kept me from leaning too left.

I have two figure 8s in my champion test, and I did them pretty well. They looked circular even -- I was so proud. But when I got home, I read over the test and noticed I missed an element. There is a halt in there. Oops. Luckily, a halt is easy to remember and to add.

The freestyle test went pretty well, too. I have two figure 8s in that one, too. Once, I messed up the first circle by trying to turn Louie to sharp, but my other circles were round.

I like freestyle because you can cover up mistakes somewhat. You have to make an eight-meter figure 8 and a 10-meter one. It doesn't matter when or where. So if your eight-meter circles are too big, you can make them the 10-meter ones. Just change up on the fly.

I start with an eight-meter figure 8, but try to give Louie some freedom. If he is walking well and it is too big for the eight-meter, I just let him and make it the 10-meter.

I am just about ready for the competition, just have to remember the halt.