Picking Up the Shoulder - Delayed

Sorry! I've been pretty busy so this post is actually for my lesson last week.  I really really wanted to ride outside in the dressage arena to prepare for my upcoming show, but no such luck. 

We didn't do a whole lot of new exercises, just trying to fine tune what we have going on right now.  Dexter is still having some balance issues, rhythm is good now he just needs to hold himself up.  Dexter likes to dive in when going to the right and pop out when going to the left.  He always has and it's gotten a lot better but he still has some tendencies.  So we spent a lot of time on a 15 meter circle to the right trying to get him balanced.  He is good for the first 3/4s of the circle then loses it as we head back to the rail.  Trainer had to constantly remind me to ride from the back to front, I think I finally got it near the end of the lesson.

We did the same work at the canter, at least Dexter is consistent with his flaws.  We also practiced cantering down the long side and not barreling down the long side.  He is getting much better, he still gets strong but doesn't completely loose it.  We even made it down the whole long side, I know it doesn't sound like much but before we could only do half at a time before he would fall apart.  And I am finally able to relax at the canter.  For so long I would get stiff and push him every stride, now that he is getting it, I can sit back and make minor adjustments.  Now that I can enjoy it, he has a super comfortable canter.

We ran through Training Level Test 1 in prep for the show.  It wasn't a total disaster.  Things we obviously don't practice much - traveling down the center line, the stretch circle (although we do stretch quite a bit it takes more than a circle to get there), diagonals, and the working walk. So before ending we practiced some stretch circles.  It's interesting to see how far me and Dexter have come and what still holds us back.  He used to avoid the bit like the plague and now he leans on it comfortably.  But when we go into the stretch and I ask him to follow the bit down he gets confused and curls his neck avoiding it again.  Like I said, he finally figures it out after a while but I have to be super soft because any correction brings him right back up.  Not sure why he defaults to this, but we are working on it. 

We still need to work on his center line, he goes down it anticipating a turn somewhere. So it's more of a center wiggle than a center line.  But he was pretty pooped after all the canter work so we will save that for the next time. 

Butt Before Nose

The weather gods have continued to bless us in Colorado.  At least in my opinion.  So far it has still been warm and pleasant enough to have my lessons every other Sunday (even if we are stuck in an indoor).  Usually by now we are seeing windy days well below 0F so I don't mind riding in 35-40F.

Last week I was told to stop working so hard, and I think I'm getting it, mostly.  As we started out I could tell I wasn't having to push Dexter as hard as I had been.  We worked on this a lot since the last lesson.  If I asked for a trot, I expected a trot.  If I asked for more trot I expected more trot.... simple I know.  i still feel myself tensing up the more I go along, trying to hold my position and his, but we will work on it.  Both Dexter and I didn't get at winded this lesson so its a move in the right direction. 

Now that we didn't have to work so hard, we started engaging Dexter's engine (butt).  Previously when asked to move forward, he ducked his head and quickened his stride.  Now that we have good contact with the bit I am working on not focusing on putting his head where I want it, but "driving" him into position. I know this works and I understand it's proper, but because I don't always get how it works I forget to do it and focus on "wiggling" his head into position.  At any rate, this lesson while trainer was explaining this strategy i really really focused on keeping my hands as still as possible and moving him with my legs (seat will come later).  And it seemed to work.  He kept his head down, but not in (not quite vertical either but that's OK), and felt more balanced.  He hasn't been diving into the turns for the last several lessons.... I almost forgot he used to. 

Another "Ah-ha" moment came during a serpentine exercise.  Trainer has been telling me to bend his barrel before his head when switching directions.  And I've been trying but haven't really gotten it.  I'd still end up "steering" with my reins.  But yesterday during one of the serpentines I was pushing with my new inside leg and shifting my seat and I felt his midsection move underneath me.  It was cool. (I get excited by the littlest things... you have to in dressage).  I thought "Oh that's what I'm looking for" and could feel that we had gotten it right even before trainer told us it was perfect. 

We also practiced a mock dressage test where trainer would yell out movements as we went around the ring.  It was super fun and was a good gauge for where we were.  And it was encouraging. He bent well and stayed steady.  The only disasterous parts were his canter to trot transitions and that was expected being as we haven't worked on them at all.  We've been busy getting a good canter first.

So homework for the next 2 weeks:  Stop staring and worrying about head position!  25% of the horse is in front of me, I need to start riding the other 75%.