Combination frustration

A moose like me...walk on ice like that?!

Started out my 2-ride Sunday on Calvin in the indoor. It was an icy walk from the barn that houses his stall, but we managed. I forgot my crop and felt silly, everyone was busy working on their own thing and I didn't want to go back and get it, but I ended up getting him to canter briefly, though he wasn't enthused. I think he was tired. It wasn't the most groundbreaking ride, but I liked being able to do what I want, rather than constantly being in a class when you are told what your every move should be. There must be something valuable in that!

The lesson was with a three girls who are all around my ability. We did some familiar exercises, but then the lesson culminated in doing a pattern one at a time that Joy and I completely messed up. It's never the pony's fault, so let's just say I was having difficulty communicating with her. The pattern was:

Canter a 20m circle starting at C, canter a 20m circle at E where there was also a ground pole to navigate, canter a 20m circle at A and come to a hault at A.

I would say my biggest issue was the ground pole coming around the circle at E. I ended up at an angle instead of head on to the ground pole. Once I was at an angle, I was way, way off track from my final circle and ended up falling in and coming to a halt quite a few feet from A.