So the jump lesson was on Saturday, I drove home Saturday night, and got up at 6:30 Sunday morning to drive right back for my 10am Dressage lesson. Were it not COVID times, I would have stayed with my friend Nicole, but these are the sacrifices we make right now.
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| The cutest little dachshund |
This lesson started out with "Wooooooooooooow, how does it feel to have an educated lesson pony!" from her, because he really did come out looking and feeling great, which was especially good since I was the one that had ridden him the day before too. But as always (and this is why I love her) it's like "Wowwwww okay here's the next thing."
She's still not happy with my posting mechanic, and says I'm losing all tone at the bottom of the post, which means I'm constantly telling Connor "I want you to go 0, I want you to go 100" over and over, which it needs to be like 75/25.
She wanted me to think about staying active even in the bottom of the post (requiring a lot of core and back muscles, all the way to the top), pulling the stirrups back with my feet a bit, making sure my butt is "touching the cantle" (my words for what it felt like when I got it right) and continuing my post all the way to the top. This is really hard in light of my recent glute med discovery, and indeed it did cramp up during this. I need to strengthen that faster!
After that, we moved onto canter work, and specifically canter-walk. I'll start with the good:
It's in there. But it's not easy for either one of us, especially to the left. A lot of them still look like this:
I was struggling with it so much, she got on, reinstalled some respect for the bit and the bend, and then it was much easier.
I have to learn to make my half halts faster. I have to time my ask correctly - "when his mane is standing straight up". I have to sit back and have my butt touching the cantle. I have to keep my legs on him. He knows how to do it, but I have to hold up my end of the bargain, which is exactly what I was hoping to get out of this full training - a horse that knows more than I do.
Also - three weeks ago I cut four inches off his tail after we both noticed he was about to step on it during the reinbacks now that he's so rocked back on his hocks, and then after Sunday's lesson, I had to cut ANOTHER four inches off! He does grow about an inch of tail a month, but still. I guess I'm learning why Dressage horses bang the tails halfway up the hind cannons.
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| Sitting is not a problem |
You guys look amazing. So excited for you!
ReplyDeleteClearly, he needs a Schweiftasche to keep his tail safe from the scissors 😂. BlackJak Refinery has made them in the past.
ReplyDeleteI had to google that, that's cool! Alas, I'm lazy, lol. Scissors it is.
DeleteHis tail is so pretty even with so much cut off!
ReplyDeleteThank you, I really don't deserve that tail. It's like a glowing ethereal body floating behind him even when I more or less completely neglect it in the colder months.
DeleteI'm definitely understanding your recaps better since I've taken a few lessons from a Mary-trained instructor!
ReplyDeleteYeah honestly having that common language of the Mary framework of how to train trainers is a big reason CGP works so well for me, so that doesn't surprise me. I try to articulate things clearly on the blog for non-Mary people too, but her imagery and concepts are so pervasive in my thinking.
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