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%.

10 - Shoulder Fore & Cadence!

Back in the indoor due to below freezing temperatures.  So it took Dexter a while to relax and get focused.  He doesn't particularly enjoy the indoor, I'm not sure why, he seems more hesitant of the footing and the size (even though it is plenty big enough). 

So we started with a long session of trot getting his top line relaxed.  I've noticed the more Dexter is coming together the more we are working on my position, which is great, I am a bit of a perfectionist and hate the idea that I'm holding my horse back.  So we practice staying back, not posting forward but up and half halting while still riding so he doesn't get confused and think I'm asking for a downward transition (as he so often does).  I have to remind myself to lossen my back and hips.  I've noticed when I do a half halt with my seat my thighs tightened up and forget to relax. 

As we continued at the trot and worked on the half halts to get his hips underneath him, we started to get a more elevated trot.  And trainer said the magic words - "Now we have cadence."  For me that was music to my ears, when I bought Dexter I could see whispers of a beautiful trot and hoped I'd learn how to bring it out of him.  My only wish was that I had the trot on tape so I could match the feeling with the look.

We moved on to the canter work and I was super excited to show Trainer how Dexter had finally figured out how to canter in our practice over the last few weeks.  And going to the left he did great, he kept his nose in, he wasn't rushing, I relaxed my legs and opened my hip and he just flowed along, well a few strides here and there anyways.  There is still some give an take while he figures out exactly what I want.  Going down the long side he didn't stress and his turns were straight ( I know that sounds funny but I mean he didn't swing his hip or shoulders out to avoid the bend).  Going to the right is still a bit of a challenge, we worked on getting Dexter to move independent of my leg aids.  Right now I have to push him every stride, and its my fault in that I thought I had to in the beginning so now he things as soon as I relax and use my seat he can trot.  We had to keep cantering until he stopped breaking when I took my leg off. The rule was I had to ask for a trot, not just let him run into it.  But otherwise he is looking much better.

Then our first real lesson with lateral work (intentionally anyways) - Shoulder-fore!  Dexter was a genius at popping his shoulder out or diving in to avoid work, so we have been on a strictly "no lateral work" diet for a while.  He knows how to leg yield but we needed to retrain him a bit so he only did it when asked.  So we started working on the shoulder-fore at the trot on the circle, I guess he would stress to much doing it on the straight away.  Its hard! We started on the circle then asked him to make a slightly smaller circle but kept him on the larger one with my outside rein and inside leg.  I have to say it was a lot to think about and he only got it about 25% of the time, but I ingrained the feeling, when he did do it right, in my head so hopefully we can recreated it at home.  I was getting frustrated because it felt like he was just making a smaller circle, and I was having to post (because my sitting trot is still sloppy) and I feel like I can't feel everything when I post.  But every now and then I could feel a shift, it felt more like a "haunches-out" instead of a shoulder-fore but I get that in the end it's the same frame. 

Still overall we had some more ah-ha moments in our lesson.  I love that I have such a smart horse (as most horses are.)  I enjoy riding because it challenges me and the horse both mentally and physically so when we work together and find that moment where it all click, its magic.  This is why I ride, and this is why I ride dressage, to reach that ultimate harmony, where I'm doing everything I can to help him do his best and he is working so hard to give me what I'm asking for, and we are doing it together.

Lessons 2-4ish

Being that I started these lessons back in August and am just not getting around to documenting them, I don't exactly remember when each lesson occurred and what we learned in each, but here will be my attempt to sum up what we've learned so far and what exercises we have been given.

We continued to work on forward, pushing Dexter out to the bit.  When he still got deep behind the bit I used my inside rein to lift him up, correcting him instead of rewarding him with no contact. We stayed on the circle for a few lessons, then started doing straight work.  We then found out that Dexter doesn't like to go straight, or at least he isn't used to it.  We did some straight to curve exercises to help him with his balance from that transition at the trot.  One exercise was to go around the arena and do a 10-15 meter circle at RSV&P.  Another was to trot down the center line, 10 meter circle one way at I and 10 meter circle the other way at L.  Eventually I could feel that instead of pulling Dexter around the circle I was pushing him.

We worked a lot on getting his body lined up on the bend.  He was very good at avoiding the bend by either swinging his hip out of popping his shoulder out.  At this point we didn't focus on contact much, just balance.

At the canter we continued with forward movement.  And also with straight lines vs circles, although we didn't do 15 meter circles we did more of an egg shape around the arena.  Dexter still allowed his back end to fall behind on the straight away, causing him to use his front end more and really run hard.  He went around the arena with his head up and back end way behind him, I'm sure it was a pretty sight, but the majority of the work was to get him fit so we could start to shape the canter.  He went from being able to do half a circle before having to break to being able to do several eggs. 

We also worked on stretching down at the beginning and end of every lesson.

Our First Lesson

After a bust on the first trainer we went looking for a new one.  We found one that was a little more younger, a little less experienced and a whole lot nicer.  She was more patient with Dexter and me and was willing to teach me, not just him,...sold.

Our first lesson consisted of us trotting in circles getting more impulsion.  We learned something new the very first lesson.  I had been holding him back, all my transitions had killed his engine, the opposite I was going for.  The more I pushed him forward in the lesson the more he reached for the bit, not perfect but better.  We practiced keeping a even tempo.

The canter work was short, being that he and I were terribly out of shape.  Because his back end wasn't engaged at all he could only canter for a short while before he left it behind completely.  Trainer(that's what we will call her) had us push forward and focus on the rhythm, not the speed or collection.  She said when we feel a even 1,2,3 beat to reward him and let him rest.

I now know she was starting us at the bottom of the dressage training pyramid - rhythm.

Our first homework assignment - GO!  Go forward and push, I had been pulling Dexter back because when he went forward I felt out of control, but I was just unaccustomed to such a large gate.  So we went forward and we cantered fast and loose.  It was a little unnerving because it felt quite out of control but I trusted my trainer, even though I had just met her.