To my surprise, Challenger did not buck me off when I sat down in the saddle.  I adjust my stirrups and started to gather my reins.  Before I had them anywhere near close to where I wanted them, Tessa said,  "Stop gathering the reins, they're short enough.  Tilt your pelvis forward."  

I did as she said, and she continued.  "Feel that three point seat we were talking about?"  

I nodded.  "Yeah."  

"Keep that.  Now, imagine your heels are stretching down towards his hind feet.  Don't brace against the stirrup, let your weight drop down."  

As I did that, I felt myself sink more down into the saddle and stirrup, but I was not pushing myself there.  It was a new sensation.  

"That's it, now keep that position, don't change it at all.  And just nudge him forward.  Do almost nothing, way less than you think you should."  

My focus turned inward as I focused.  I thought about my usual leg aid for Win, and then cut that in half.  

I closed my calves very gently, but before I'd even finished the squeeze, Challenger had moved off.  

"Still maybe a little much, but better than before," commented Tessa.  "Careful, you're leaning back.  Tilt your pelvis forward."  

It didn't feel right, but I did as she said.  Challenger was much happier than the last time I rode him.  He marched along energetically. 

"Alright, just walk along there for a little bit and focus on keeping your body straight.  Try to resist using your reins as much as possible.  It's what you'll have to do on Medallion so you might as well get used to it now."  

Doing this wasn't very hard, as I had often let Win or other horses walk out on a loose rein, while still keeping them next to the wall.  However, unlike other horses, Challenger seemed to want to deviate more often.  

Meanwhile, Tessa mounted Medallion.  As soon as Tessa touched the saddle, Medallion was off, not even giving her a chance to find her other stirrup.  Tessa calmly reached down and pulled her around into a one rein stop.  

"This gal's full of fire," she said as she let the rein out as a reward for Medallion.  The headstrong mare immediately lurched into walk again without Tessa asking for it.  So she did another one rein stop.  

While she was working with Medallion on standing still, she instructed me.  "Careful, Vanessa, you're collapsed slightly on the right side, and that's why he keeps wanting to leg yield away from the wall.  Lift your outside shoulder and stretch your leg down on the same side."  

It felt very wrong to do this, but I tried.  Challenger immediately changed under me.  Now he wasn't walking crooked but rather straight along the wall.  

"You might feel like you're crooked and not straight, but Challenger says differently.  Now, let's experiment with turning.  Here, halt Challenger and I'll demonstrate."  

When I went to halt Challenger, I forgot about how little he required and made him halt suddenly.  In fact, he even backed up a step or two, until I let up.  "Sorry," I murmured to him.  

I looked up to watch Tessa on Medallion.  

"Alright, so, when you go to turn, it's the same as before.  Use as little rein as possible.  See, here I'm walking straight."  Tessa had a quieter Medallion going along the fence.  

"And now I'm going to look where I'm going, deepen my inside leg as if I'm stepping to the side, and turn my upper body.  My outside leg may close a bit to encourage her as well."  As Tessa spoke, she did as she said, and Medallion turned off the wall and started going across the arena.  

"Notice that I didn't twist my upper body, I aligned it to her and then put myself slightly out of alignment.  To balance, she followed me.  And I'll do it again, same as before.  Look where I'm going, deepen my inside leg, close my other one."  Now she had turned and was coming toward me.  

"If I had my reins, then I'd open my inside one slightly and close my outside one.  This would result in a quicker and perhaps neater turn.  But that's for another time." 

She halted Medallion.  "Now, you try it.  Remember, he requires less than you think he will."  

I nodded and started to pick up my reins, but then remembered I wasn't supposed too.  I made my leg aid even lighter than last time, and he didn't shoot off as much.  

I bit my lip unconsciously as I focused.  Look where you're going.  Step down into inside leg.  Turn upper body.  It felt like too little, but I did it anyway.

To my surprise, Challenger was right there with me.  About as soon as I started to look and turn, he followed me.  The turn was neater, quicker, and crisper than I'd expected.  I didn't really need the reins.  

"Good!" Praised Tessa.  "Just be careful of your right side collapsing."  

As the ride went on, that proved to be my weak point.  Collapsing on my right side was tendency of mine, although I didn't know why.  Tessa said that I'd have to always be mindful of it, but if I attacked it aggressively, it would become less of a problem going forward. 

As Tessa worked with Medallion, it became more and more clear that the mare hated having her mouth touched.  She'd curl behind the vertical, toss her head, surge forward, whatever it took to alleviate what she perceived as too much pressure.  Whatever had happened to her in her previous life to instill her with such distrust had left a mark that wouldn't be easily taken care of.

Tessa also thought she had been used to getting her way in a lot of areas at some point.  Such as moving forward when not asked, or not standing still for very long.  "Being so forward is a great quality for an event horse," she said, "But it'll do no good if she won't listen to you."

Finally, the time came for us to switch horses.  My ride on Challenger had gone much better than I'd expected.  It was clear he was more relaxed at his own home, and when I wasn't so arrogant as to assume I knew how to ride him. 

Despite that, I gave up all thoughts of buying him.  Not only would Tessa refuse to sell, but he and I wouldn't work well together.  He needed a calm confidence that Tessa possessed and I didn't.  On the other hand, I had the strength of will to stand up to Medallion where she needed it, and the passion that matched hers.  

I dismounted and patted the gray gelding.  "Thanks for not bucking me off this time."