Lesson 1 - It feels appropriate that the first day of the new year is the first day of my Gifted scholarship adventure. I thought this balmy winter that we've been having was playing perfectly into my winter plans, but today had a high of 32 degrees with strong wind that made it much colder. But after adding a couple layers, I drove to Akron, Ohio for my first lesson. I brought Gadget to Shade Tree Farm train with Kristin Stein on Christmas eve, so he has already had four rides with her. Even with only those four rides on him, I could feel a big difference in the quality of the canter he offered in his warm up. As Kristin says, I have gotten used to the feel of his canter being a hair away from four beat. We want the canter to "roll" and to feel fluid because he uses his whole body. He's strong enough to really carry with power now, but I have to ask for it. And it's going to take time to get the expression all the time. The theme of this lesson was POWER! N