 Today's exercise is going to be a stretching exercise, getting you to lengthen and reach tall through your entire body. And I think a great visualization for this exercise is the idea of picking an apple off of a tree on your horse. You're reaching up, you're stretching tall through your entire body, you're lengthening and it feels amazing because that stretching is something we maybe don't get in in our everyday life and of course we can always give our horse that apple if we get an apple. Now it is a seemingly simple exercise as you're just reaching above your head, but you're going to allow the movement of the horse to create more elasticity along the whole side of your body that you're stretching. So you're going to feel as though it's like this rubber band that reaches, reaches, reaches and you can even reach that hand across and over your head and you can stretch it out to the side and you're doing this in a way where you're being purposeful. So you're not just stretching your hand up and letting it hang up there, but you're really reaching and lengthening and thinking about grabbing that apple out of the tree, right? So you're reaching your hand up as though you're reaching for something, not just, not just placing it above your head. And the horse's movement will come through you in waves and you may find that there's places that get blocked slightly. So as you're doing this, be aware if there's any blockages and see if you can make adjustments both in your pelvis and in your torso and your middle to see if that helps create the flow that you're looking for because what we're looking for is the flow and the energy of the horse. So each step has a wave, it has energy and that energy passes through us and we need to be able to allow and receive it coming through. And when you do this stretching exercise you might feel there's a spot maybe in your lower back or in your upper body that's a little tight and it's not allowing the movement to come through. So try to work through those areas and you can move your arm in various positions to do so. But you're really thinking about reaching and stretching and then switching hands. You're making comparisons from one side to the other to see if one side feels different than the other. We're allowing the horse's movement to unlock these tense tight areas in our body. So we're unlocking those areas and we're allowing them to be elastic and long and stretching and allowing the movement to pass through us. And then when we feel comfortable at the walk we can move this into the trot and canter. This exercise is one if you're comfortable with using just one brain and you've got good control of your horse do it at the trot and canter. It feels amazing and it's really going to allow you to move with your horse. You're going to feel just by opening up your shoulder and lifting your shoulder you're actually going to feel that reciprocate in the hip joint and you're going to feel your hips open as well and be aware of that as you ride to this. This exercise can be as rewarding for your horse as it is for you. You don't have to actually give them an apple but in between stretching your arm up and over your head go ahead and give them a rub and let them know they're doing a nice job and then get back to your stretching. After you're done watching this video make sure you click the link and go grab the PDF as well as the audio lesson. You're going to get a lot more out of the audio lesson because we give you many visualizations that are going to help you feel like you can really move through all the tense areas in your body lengthen and grow and become a rider that's nice and tall and straight and supple. So go ahead grab that audio lesson download it to your phone and until next time happy riding.