Walk and Trot and Walk

What I am thinking about:

1. Toes to the nose.
2. Chest 'Eyes'.
3. Head and Neck move with shoulders not before.
4. Turning, engage outside obliques, look with chest 'eyes', inside toe to nose.
5. Tuck pelvis in, sit on pockets.
6. Don't look down. Bungee cord from top of crown to the sky.
7. Keep posting motion small.
8. Relax shoulders.
9. Keep even constant contact on reins.

To relax upper body: trot with reins in one hand other arm dangling at side.

Halt and Walk and Halt

Last Friday's lesson was good, we worked on halt/walk/halt transitions. It was a challenge keeping Breezy going forward. To halt I was told to use my thighs and hands to squeeze and release and to walk I was told to bring my lower leg in (not back) to lightly tap her and if she didn't move forward right away to brush her with the whip. As with everything I am learning, the coordination of aids is challenging but gets easier as we go along.

To help me concentrate on my form better, Carey took my whip and walked along beside us and tapped Breezy if she didn't move off my leg or started to slow down without being asked. Breezy started to get to the point where she was anticipating the walk from the halt that it seemed she didn't want to stand still! Breezy not want to stand still?! Holy Cow! Carey pointed out that the fact that Breezy was anticipating what I wanted was a sign that she was learning what was expected of her though she may not be fully on the aids.

Our work on the halt/walk transition, getting good impulsion from the start of the walk rather than dragging in to it is supposed to help us get a good walk/trot transition that we may be working on tomorrow (Wednesday) during our next lesson.

I rode with Regina on Saturday and Sunday this past weekend. Totally fell off (again!) on Saturday when Breezy apparently spooked at nothing and kind of leapt to the left, just like she did when I fell off the last time. She was acting like a total butt, I think because I was on for a while and she felt like she should be done already. Needless to say I got back on and rode a lot longer even going back into the ring and working on some trotting and cantering. What a turd.

Regina was so nice, when I told her that I was worried what she thought when I fell off, she just said that the only thing she was worried about was whether I was alright and that she hoped I wouldn't start hating Ms. Breezy. I don't think I could hate Breezy, she may be a butt but I loff her to pieces.

Yesterday I went out with Jen and looked at a horse with her in Ocala. His name is Black Jack and he was very sweet just not steady eddie enough for her, or for me for that matter. It was a beautiful evening though and the lady we met, Cindy of Performance LTD was very nice and very knowledgeable. Having never looked at a horse to buy before, I think it was a great first time out.

I want to go out and ride today but I must go running with Andy and clean the house.

Friday's lesson

Friday was a rainy day but thankfully we managed to squeeze in my lesson at 2PM. Laurie came out to watch. Since I didn't have a chance to ride since my last lesson, stupid rain, we worked some more on bringing my toe in to Breezy's nose and looking around with my chest "eyes."

Sometimes it feels easier but most of the time it is a struggle to keep everything together. On the straightaways I am thinking... even weight on both seat bones, toes uniformly pointing toward the nose, tuck pelvis under...uh oh, here comes a turn...concentrate on inner toe pointing toward Breezy's nose, shift weight over to inner seat bone (how?), twist at the hips, let chest eye's look towards the center, don't let the head look first!!! Keep Breezy moving!!! Argh!!!

I know it will come together if I just keep doing it.

After the lesson Carey and I chatted a bit and just as I got off of Breezy it started to pour. We walked as quick as we could to the barn where I got Breezy untacked in a stall. Carey left to go teach Laurie's lesson and I hurried up and cleaned Breezy, let her graze for a little bit, rubbed down my soaked saddle with soap, and ran over to Laurie's to watch the last half.

During that lesson I had a voila moment and figured out how I was supposed to shift my weight to my inside seatbone while turning. You don't lean! You keep your torso straight up and down and shift it with your outside obliques! Shift then twist!! A revelation!

Of course, I found on Saturday that it is a lot easier to do while not actually on a horse. But Breezy was a good sport and I just kept turning around in all sorts of circles trying to figure it out.

Sunday poured rain all day so after work I went to Target and got a Yoga/Pilates DVD that focuses on Abs. Went home and did most of it, holy cow that stuff is tiring! Then I did the first twenty minutes of the DVD that Laurie loaned me. Needless to say I am pretty sore today but I feel good!

I am willing away the rain so that I can ride later on. I am going to be 28 tomorrow. I am going to have my own horse by the time I am 30. For real.

So Long So Long

It has been a while since I've posted. Things have been hectic and I haven't gotten out to ride as much as I would've liked. I will fill in the blanks as best I can.

The Friday after the lesson that I talked about last I was able to watch Laurie's dressage lesson given by a lady named Carey. It was fantastic! All she did was walk! Carey seemed to have a very good eye for detail and was very sympathetic to both horse and rider. Laurie had a great time and I was totally jealous!! What? An instructor that doesn't throw rocks at your mount trying to get it to canter? One who pays attention to your position and listens to your discriptions of your perceived problems and figures out how to fix it? I decided I had to have a lesson from Carey who would actually travel to my barn and give me a lesson on Breezy.

So, I cancelled my Monday lesson with Donna citing monetary problems, which for all intents and purposes was true... I can't have a lesson with both Donna and Carey! ...and I scheduled one with Carey for the following Friday. Of course I got hit with karma when my lesson rained out (wouldn't have rained out at Donna's awesome facility) but it was quickly rescheduled for Sunday which was totally awesome. She returns phone calls and emails promptly!

So now, the lesson...

Right after work I drove straight to the barn. Halfway through cleaning Breezy Carey pulled up. We exchanged greetings and she admired Breezy, she said that she is quite decently conformed and that she has a beautiful tail for an Appy (very true). She also noticed that B was a bit under weight and asked me about it. I mentioned the vet had been out and said her teeth were fine, that she was recently wormed, and that she ate a ton. So she asked B to open her mouth and she put her hand right on up there! She said that she felt some sharp edges and that she thought B could probably use some dental work despite what the vet said. To be continued..

Once I got B all tacked up, I got on and started walking around. Instead of walking up and down the dirt road like I normally do to warm up I went directly into the ring. Carey stood in the shade and watched me walk in both directions and then asked me to trot in both directions. She noticed that B was a bit shorter strided with her right hind when we were traveling to the right. When we were traveling to the left she asked me if when I posted did I feel like I was landing more heavily on my right side. Which I definately did. She also noticed that despite traveling to the left, most of my weight was still in my right leg.

To work on my leg she put me in a 20 meter circle walking to the left around her. She asked me to take my left leg out of the stirrup and just let it hang down naturally. After a while she had me pointing my toe toward B's nose with my heel pointing away from the horse. This put my inner upper thigh in contact with the saddle. So I walked pointing with my toe for a few strides then relaxing for a few strides. Then she added another exercise. She said to pretend I had eyes between my boobs and to try to "look" at her in the middle of the circle for a few strides then relax for a few strides. I had to do this without looking with my head before the rest of my body, very hard considering all the looking beaten in to me in the hunters.

Next she had me pointing with my toe and "looking" at her with my new eyes at the same time. Not easy. Kind of like patting your head and rubbing your belly at the same time. This whole exercise was meant to: one, create muscle memory, my toes will eventually point at B's nose all the time and I should be able to eventually twist at the hips without moving my head first and ; two, lengthen my left leg.

We then changed direction and worked on the same thing going to the right. I found that pointing my right toe was easier to do but that my ankle was stiffer than my left ankle. I also found that twisting to the right was pretty darned difficult. Also, I could not feel my right butt bone at all! Wee! The root of alot of my position problems! I have weak muscles on the left side of my back and stronger tighter muscles on the right side of my back that causes my spine to form the shape of a bow. Twisting to the right was (is) more difficult because it requires my left back muscles (obliques?) to work. Now if I can build up more strength in the left side and make my right side more flexible I may just be able to sit up straight in the saddle! Also it would be good if my left leg could take over some of the work that my right leg assumes belongs to it.

We stopped the lesson as soon as I was able to feel both seat bones.

During the lesson Regina drove up and pulled Jewel out of the pasture. After the lesson I introduced the two of them and they chatted while I cleaned B up. After a little while I gave Carey a check and scheduled another lesson for Friday at 12pm. Yay!

Floating continued...

When Carey left I mentioned to Regina what Carey said about B's teeth and who she recommended to get out there to do them and hopefully we can get them done sometime this summer.

All in all totally awesome. I am sore today, all the way down my left side : )