Another lovely ride on Theoden this morning. He seems to be getting more and more confident and certainly enjoys going a bit faster; second canter with me on board. Sometimes he still has the handbrake on and I can feel him thinking about whether he will or whether he won't but, to mix my metaphors, he has a much longer fuse these days and a doesn't just chuck me off the moment he feels me put a little pressure on him with my legs or the wip-wope rope. The aim is to let him swing along unimpeded with the lightest of contact, the instant he goes forward so that he starts to recognise that that is the 'soft place' to be.