Friggin deerflies!
Scrapped plans to go out on a hack, the deerflies are so friggin’ bad–they swarm around my dark horse by the hundreds. We can’t even outrun them, they find us at the end of a gallop.
I decided to get on the right track about doing flat work, just dig and and stop being a softy about contact, following the rein and moving off the leg. We had some limited success, it took about 15 minutes to get Clover to give in the jaw, especially going to the right, as well as accept the contact without resisting. I tried to lighten up as soon as she started softening and accepting, but my reaction time isn’t that great yet. It’s years of theory finally going into practice, and I don’t have the instinct or the muscle memory yet. But, it’s improving–it used to be non-existant.
We gradually moved onto trot and canter work. I tried to sit straight and not grip with my knees and thighs, and my trainer said she saw some fairly decent canter work around one corner when she happened to be watching. I was concentrating on keeping Clover organized between my leg and hand. She has a tendency to get heavy in the right rein, which is made worse because I curl my right shoulder in and sit heavier to the right–I’m stronger on my right side. We practiced some Novice A test movements–definitely better work than the test at Pipestave.
I’m feeling more confident in my ability and resolve to ride through the issues rather than accept the status quo for the sake of not getting into it with Clover. Obviously I’m going to have to work for it, because she isn’t built to/ain’t gonna just drop into the contact like some horses can. I noticed after this ride that Clover was more sweaty on the hindquarters, so I’m hopeful that means we’re getting more riding from behind going on and her balance is shifting more to the hind end. I’m very paranoid that I’m riding front to back, not vice versa.
I decided to get on the right track about doing flat work, just dig and and stop being a softy about contact, following the rein and moving off the leg. We had some limited success, it took about 15 minutes to get Clover to give in the jaw, especially going to the right, as well as accept the contact without resisting. I tried to lighten up as soon as she started softening and accepting, but my reaction time isn’t that great yet. It’s years of theory finally going into practice, and I don’t have the instinct or the muscle memory yet. But, it’s improving–it used to be non-existant.
We gradually moved onto trot and canter work. I tried to sit straight and not grip with my knees and thighs, and my trainer said she saw some fairly decent canter work around one corner when she happened to be watching. I was concentrating on keeping Clover organized between my leg and hand. She has a tendency to get heavy in the right rein, which is made worse because I curl my right shoulder in and sit heavier to the right–I’m stronger on my right side. We practiced some Novice A test movements–definitely better work than the test at Pipestave.
I’m feeling more confident in my ability and resolve to ride through the issues rather than accept the status quo for the sake of not getting into it with Clover. Obviously I’m going to have to work for it, because she isn’t built to/ain’t gonna just drop into the contact like some horses can. I noticed after this ride that Clover was more sweaty on the hindquarters, so I’m hopeful that means we’re getting more riding from behind going on and her balance is shifting more to the hind end. I’m very paranoid that I’m riding front to back, not vice versa.
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