Dressage lesson
At Meadow Farm, even though I've only ridden a handful of times since the last lesson two weeks ago, Janet said that all three of us were obviously working on issues and exercises presented in the lessons. I was really glad she said that, I had been worried that this was going to be a same ol'-same ol' lesson due to lack of preparation. But really, Christine and Katrina have both helped a lot being eyes on the ground for me, especially when I've had problems finding my seat, or needing help working to the left.
Recently I've been fighting with Mico in warm up, and it takes a while for me to just relax and give in, which causes him to give in when I stop fussing and relax my seat and upper body. As usual, we started out in a longer frame medium walk, and gradually worked up to working trot. We rode 20 meter circles and bending lines--I'm finally starting to use my upper body more to help indicate the direction and amount of bend, as well as figuring out how much outside reins to use, how to be more elastic so Mico can come through the bend.
We did some leg yielding at the walk in both directions. If I'm correct with seat and aids, Mico does nice lateral movement, as long as I sit tall and stay relaxed. I really feel like a rider when we get it together. Sitting/rising trot transitions eased us into canter work. For some reason my body tensed up and I didn't get the better quality canter I'd had the night before. I even got off and resettled the saddle further back on Mico; it had worked its way forward during the first part of the lesson. For some reason, I couldn't get good departs, he was running into them, especially to the left. But again, I'm still figuring out the rein aids, and learning to follow with my seat instead of bracing my hip against him.
We finished up with leg yields at the trot. Janet isn't crazy about that exercise, as the horse's body doesn't have any bend, but it is a good, introduction to lateral work, because it's an easy way to learn how to coordinate the aids. At this point, I was finally sitting correctly in the saddle--not perched on the pommel, and I could feel both my seat bones equally in the saddle (usually I can only feel the right seatbone), and my lower legs found the sweet spot on Mico's sides. The leg yields were good in both directions, but then I fell apart when she had us do leg yield zig zags. A new exercise to fiddle with until the next lesson, which will be gymnastics and jumping.
So now I'm developing more of an internal monologue, and getting after myself to react and not try to just maintain status quo when things get bungled up, and also starting to use my seat more effectively, now that I'm really stating to feel where things should be.
The three of us have been helping each other out in the saddle and on the ground, and despite the sporadic riding of the past couple of weeks, Janet told us that it's obvious that we've been applying ourselves to our riding.
Recently I've been fighting with Mico in warm up, and it takes a while for me to just relax and give in, which causes him to give in when I stop fussing and relax my seat and upper body. As usual, we started out in a longer frame medium walk, and gradually worked up to working trot. We rode 20 meter circles and bending lines--I'm finally starting to use my upper body more to help indicate the direction and amount of bend, as well as figuring out how much outside reins to use, how to be more elastic so Mico can come through the bend.
We did some leg yielding at the walk in both directions. If I'm correct with seat and aids, Mico does nice lateral movement, as long as I sit tall and stay relaxed. I really feel like a rider when we get it together. Sitting/rising trot transitions eased us into canter work. For some reason my body tensed up and I didn't get the better quality canter I'd had the night before. I even got off and resettled the saddle further back on Mico; it had worked its way forward during the first part of the lesson. For some reason, I couldn't get good departs, he was running into them, especially to the left. But again, I'm still figuring out the rein aids, and learning to follow with my seat instead of bracing my hip against him.
We finished up with leg yields at the trot. Janet isn't crazy about that exercise, as the horse's body doesn't have any bend, but it is a good, introduction to lateral work, because it's an easy way to learn how to coordinate the aids. At this point, I was finally sitting correctly in the saddle--not perched on the pommel, and I could feel both my seat bones equally in the saddle (usually I can only feel the right seatbone), and my lower legs found the sweet spot on Mico's sides. The leg yields were good in both directions, but then I fell apart when she had us do leg yield zig zags. A new exercise to fiddle with until the next lesson, which will be gymnastics and jumping.
So now I'm developing more of an internal monologue, and getting after myself to react and not try to just maintain status quo when things get bungled up, and also starting to use my seat more effectively, now that I'm really stating to feel where things should be.
The three of us have been helping each other out in the saddle and on the ground, and despite the sporadic riding of the past couple of weeks, Janet told us that it's obvious that we've been applying ourselves to our riding.
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