Don’t get into it with her
Another lesson last night, it was better than this past Friday's (Clover was in super spooky heat mode, balky and using those strong shoulders to her advantage) but she was still very much on the forehand at the beginning. It took a lot of leg yielding up the long side of the arena--very, very basic--for the sole purpose of getting her inside hind leg underneath her and engaged. Michele told me to stop worrying about what her outside shoulder was doing--just work on getting the hind end moving.
As the lesson progressed, the work gradually improved, although I had a time getting Clover off of the left rein. I just have never had her be so strong before. She was just powering through my somewhat uncoordinated efforts to redirect her energy to her hindquarters. We started canter work early in the warm up, and Michele told me to not worry about getting Clover round too early, don't fiddle with her head, again just get her hind end moving and gradually work on getting her round.
Towards the end of the lesson we were working on bringing circles in off the 20 meter track, and working the haunches out at the trot and the canter. I have to remember to straighten Clover before asking for the canter, though. After a walk break, and changing direction, I picked up Clover to work on the other direction, and she was resistant, which I started to react to, and Michele immediately picked up on that and told me to not get into it with Clover, to just ride the exercise and let the exercise do the work! What a weight off my shoulders!
I love how Michele says, "Ready to ride your test?" just when you think you're done with the exercise, when in reality you're actually perfectly warmed up and ready to go. It was the first time I rode the new 2006 beginner novice A test. It's kooky, but I like it, I like that all of the diagonals are half diagonals, even for the free walk. It gives me less chance to start panicking and get lost towards the end! All the 20 meter trot and canter circles are performed at A, most of the transitions (both up and down) are between letters. Not bad for a first run-through, though Michele said I still needed to prepare better for the turns off the diagonals. I don't know why I have such a mental block, why it's so hard for me to ride that last stride (sounds like jumping!).
So, in the Kingsbury dressage warm up, with no walls or fencing to work on the nose-to-wall leg yield to activate Clover's inside hind, I can use the leg yield on the circle to get us organized. Whew.
As the lesson progressed, the work gradually improved, although I had a time getting Clover off of the left rein. I just have never had her be so strong before. She was just powering through my somewhat uncoordinated efforts to redirect her energy to her hindquarters. We started canter work early in the warm up, and Michele told me to not worry about getting Clover round too early, don't fiddle with her head, again just get her hind end moving and gradually work on getting her round.
Towards the end of the lesson we were working on bringing circles in off the 20 meter track, and working the haunches out at the trot and the canter. I have to remember to straighten Clover before asking for the canter, though. After a walk break, and changing direction, I picked up Clover to work on the other direction, and she was resistant, which I started to react to, and Michele immediately picked up on that and told me to not get into it with Clover, to just ride the exercise and let the exercise do the work! What a weight off my shoulders!
I love how Michele says, "Ready to ride your test?" just when you think you're done with the exercise, when in reality you're actually perfectly warmed up and ready to go. It was the first time I rode the new 2006 beginner novice A test. It's kooky, but I like it, I like that all of the diagonals are half diagonals, even for the free walk. It gives me less chance to start panicking and get lost towards the end! All the 20 meter trot and canter circles are performed at A, most of the transitions (both up and down) are between letters. Not bad for a first run-through, though Michele said I still needed to prepare better for the turns off the diagonals. I don't know why I have such a mental block, why it's so hard for me to ride that last stride (sounds like jumping!).
So, in the Kingsbury dressage warm up, with no walls or fencing to work on the nose-to-wall leg yield to activate Clover's inside hind, I can use the leg yield on the circle to get us organized. Whew.
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