Whip hand hanging out
The snot nose has cleared up. I did another lesson today, a semi with Michelle on Mattie. I did all the flatwork in jumping length stirrups, and I had a harder time keeping my knees out of the edge of the knee rolls.
The quality of flat work was more consistent, though. Clover resists my hand less and less, the more I refuse to allow my hand to follow her testing. Now I have to remember to bring my hand back to the correct position after using the whip--I have a tendancy to leave the whip hand hanging out "at the ready".
Every day the canter work improves. There is actual power happening in the hind end! The transitions to canter are smoother and more prompt--as long as I prepare for the transition and DON'T give my hands away during the transition. It's incredibly exciting to feel a horse develop underneath you, to feel the strength, balance and quality of work improve, in spite of all [my] flaws as a rider. Still, seeing noticeable improvements over the past couple of months gives me more confidence--I hope the feeling carries over to competitions.
We worked on a few jumping exercises: x-rail, one stride to vertical for warm up, then adding a panel on the long side to the original exercise.
For the second exercise, we jumped the one stride, rode around the short side of the ring to take a diagonal 4 stride line. I need to control the outside aids better for crisper turns, and prepare more for the turn. It's a matter of riding just beyond the point of the turn to get the correct line to the fence--without overshooting it. The first time through, Clover actually did the 4 stride line as a 5 stride, because again I chased her to it in my overeagerness. On the bright side--we got out leads correct on landing, another sure sign of developing strength!
The quality of flat work was more consistent, though. Clover resists my hand less and less, the more I refuse to allow my hand to follow her testing. Now I have to remember to bring my hand back to the correct position after using the whip--I have a tendancy to leave the whip hand hanging out "at the ready".
Every day the canter work improves. There is actual power happening in the hind end! The transitions to canter are smoother and more prompt--as long as I prepare for the transition and DON'T give my hands away during the transition. It's incredibly exciting to feel a horse develop underneath you, to feel the strength, balance and quality of work improve, in spite of all [my] flaws as a rider. Still, seeing noticeable improvements over the past couple of months gives me more confidence--I hope the feeling carries over to competitions.
We worked on a few jumping exercises: x-rail, one stride to vertical for warm up, then adding a panel on the long side to the original exercise.
For the second exercise, we jumped the one stride, rode around the short side of the ring to take a diagonal 4 stride line. I need to control the outside aids better for crisper turns, and prepare more for the turn. It's a matter of riding just beyond the point of the turn to get the correct line to the fence--without overshooting it. The first time through, Clover actually did the 4 stride line as a 5 stride, because again I chased her to it in my overeagerness. On the bright side--we got out leads correct on landing, another sure sign of developing strength!
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