Dressage lesson
Even though I didn't do the UNH Horse Trials, and am not planning on any eventing in the immediate future (house selling and condo hunting make it hard to train consistently), I've actually been doing ok with riding as far as having motivation—it seems I have more motivation than I typically would in this type of situation.
Instead of burying myself completely in house cleaning and maintenance, I've been getting tension relief from riding, and even more with grooming and just hanging out with Clover as she grazes, burying my nose in her perfectly horsey-scented hide. This type of aromatherapy works best on mild, sunny days, but is definitely doable at any time.
Clover came into heat again this week, and as for the 2 phase, she was short-strided and tense in the back until we got well warmed up and worked on some suppling exercises. Janet had me start out on a longer rein, in a longer frame. She said that Clover's tail was fairly clamped down at the start of the lesson, indicating tension.
As we warmed up, trotting large serpentine loops and gradually developing contact. Clover began swinging her tail more and working more through her hind end. I told Janet that every ride seemed to start with me having to re—instill forward and supple all over again, instead of being able to pick up and move on each ride. I guess that's our warm up routine … Clover needs a lot of encouragement and outright insistence to use her hind end, Janet agreed that Clover is really reluctant to engage it.
We worked on some leg yields at the walk, and Clover must've taken my “discussion” last Thursday (hopping off and tapping her hind leg with the whip to get her to move it—just like you would teaching a young horse to step away from the whip/leg aid—she was so cranky she literally stomped her hoof and showed me what she thought of it) with her to heart, because she moved more willingly away from the leg aid. We seemed to be doing ok, as long as I didn't arch my back or let Clover lead with her shoulder. Janet said I could even give quite a bit with the inside rein as a test of Clover's engagement, sort of being “on parole.”
As Clover loosened up, I was able to ride her more uphill, and get her poll up more, although there is a period of heaviness once she does start to relax. Janet reassured me that once there was relaxation, there would be heaviness before lightening up the forehand on a horse like Clover. We worked on a 20 meter circle, a lot of sitting trot, transitions trot-walk and trot-canter—one time Janet even had us canter from the walk, which Clover did well!
A good exercise for encouraging submission (relaxing the jaw, that is) to the bridle once we've warmed up is to do 10 meter half circles, without losing forwardness at sitting trot. Another point was to go ahead and use an opening rein when Clover got heavy, Janet said sponging the rein wouldn't do much at that point—but do it while riding from behind, the left rein is heavy because the left hind isn't pushing through, and Clover's using me to carry her along.
We finished up with some canter work to the right—Clover still felt short strided and choppy on the left hind, but I was able to ride her forward and encourage her to jump through more with the hind end every so often. We transitioned down to the sitting trot, then Janet had me ride Clover forward on a stretchy rein. We got what I could feel was a nice, big trot for Clover, but in reality, I know was an actual proper working trot for a more motivated horse.
It was a good lesson for me, Janet seemed to understand my frustration and didn't out-and-out discourage me from continuing to try with Clover. Sometimes all the pieces come together, and I think we'll actually get solidly beyond training level. But other times I'll lose focus and understanding and try to push my own agenda on Clover, which just doesn't work with alpha mares. Still, I feel encouraged after yesterday's lesson because I feel like I am still learning, how to ride physically and also the right kind of attitude to compensate for my mare's occasional bad one!
Instead of burying myself completely in house cleaning and maintenance, I've been getting tension relief from riding, and even more with grooming and just hanging out with Clover as she grazes, burying my nose in her perfectly horsey-scented hide. This type of aromatherapy works best on mild, sunny days, but is definitely doable at any time.
Clover came into heat again this week, and as for the 2 phase, she was short-strided and tense in the back until we got well warmed up and worked on some suppling exercises. Janet had me start out on a longer rein, in a longer frame. She said that Clover's tail was fairly clamped down at the start of the lesson, indicating tension.
As we warmed up, trotting large serpentine loops and gradually developing contact. Clover began swinging her tail more and working more through her hind end. I told Janet that every ride seemed to start with me having to re—instill forward and supple all over again, instead of being able to pick up and move on each ride. I guess that's our warm up routine … Clover needs a lot of encouragement and outright insistence to use her hind end, Janet agreed that Clover is really reluctant to engage it.
We worked on some leg yields at the walk, and Clover must've taken my “discussion” last Thursday (hopping off and tapping her hind leg with the whip to get her to move it—just like you would teaching a young horse to step away from the whip/leg aid—she was so cranky she literally stomped her hoof and showed me what she thought of it) with her to heart, because she moved more willingly away from the leg aid. We seemed to be doing ok, as long as I didn't arch my back or let Clover lead with her shoulder. Janet said I could even give quite a bit with the inside rein as a test of Clover's engagement, sort of being “on parole.”
As Clover loosened up, I was able to ride her more uphill, and get her poll up more, although there is a period of heaviness once she does start to relax. Janet reassured me that once there was relaxation, there would be heaviness before lightening up the forehand on a horse like Clover. We worked on a 20 meter circle, a lot of sitting trot, transitions trot-walk and trot-canter—one time Janet even had us canter from the walk, which Clover did well!
A good exercise for encouraging submission (relaxing the jaw, that is) to the bridle once we've warmed up is to do 10 meter half circles, without losing forwardness at sitting trot. Another point was to go ahead and use an opening rein when Clover got heavy, Janet said sponging the rein wouldn't do much at that point—but do it while riding from behind, the left rein is heavy because the left hind isn't pushing through, and Clover's using me to carry her along.
We finished up with some canter work to the right—Clover still felt short strided and choppy on the left hind, but I was able to ride her forward and encourage her to jump through more with the hind end every so often. We transitioned down to the sitting trot, then Janet had me ride Clover forward on a stretchy rein. We got what I could feel was a nice, big trot for Clover, but in reality, I know was an actual proper working trot for a more motivated horse.
It was a good lesson for me, Janet seemed to understand my frustration and didn't out-and-out discourage me from continuing to try with Clover. Sometimes all the pieces come together, and I think we'll actually get solidly beyond training level. But other times I'll lose focus and understanding and try to push my own agenda on Clover, which just doesn't work with alpha mares. Still, I feel encouraged after yesterday's lesson because I feel like I am still learning, how to ride physically and also the right kind of attitude to compensate for my mare's occasional bad one!
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