Private Lesson

Oh man. It was soo good.

B was sick, so she didn't ride, but she still came up and watched. Which is a good thing because a) she gave me a ride :P and b) she still learned stuff! Plus it's always nice to be able to watch and see what something is supposed to look like (or try to look like).

It felt so weird to be in the arena all by myself. It made it seem so much bigger than normal! I was riding Tiffany again (who knew that I would love a mare so darn much. She's adorable) and we were working on getting her collected and in a frame. Which is really difficult. It's funny because we were working on the canter, and it was so good. Debbie commented on the fact that when I canter I'm so much more together. My outside rein is consistent and my inside rein gives and takes. I have give in my own elbows, and it's just better than the trot, where I'm constantly losing what I try to do. She said that that's usually the opposite of what people do and are comfortable with. I think it's because at the trot there's just so much more going on. I'm bouncing more, I have a harder time keeping my reins even and she's not as rhythmical at the trot as she is at the canter. Plus I think that the canter is the same as the Western lope and jog because I don't have to think about anything other than frame. I don't have to worry about posting and losing whatever frame I get when I post. But I was able to keep the canter for more than half a circle which is good, and I've been working on my transitions from walk-trot-canter.

It was a good hard lesson. We had a short little break after cantering so Tiff could catch her breath back, and then we started trotting again, and working to get the frame back and have her relax into it, and not resist me. So we started doing transitions and leg yielding. Leg yielding feels so strange for me, I have to fight my own body to resist using a rein of opposition while doing it. So bad. I just have to keep in mind that even though my body feels twisted beyond belief and it feels SO wrong, it doesn't look as bad as it feels. B said that it looked cool and had the look of what is to come. I think because in Western, it's so not as big, and more straight that it feels so off to me. I think dressage horses lead a little more with their shoulders just so that they can get the big stride lateral instead of the tiny little ones that western horses take.

Dressage Leg Yield

Western Leg Yield

Until next week, the Holiday Barn party is this weekend!!

xoxo

Good but Tiring

Last night's lesson wasn't my greatest, but it was still better than I've had before.

When Debbie asked how we were tonight, both B and I were very lazy. Although we both had very good reasons: I was sick, B's knee hurt. I got a cold again, with cough, sore throat and runny nose. Yay for head colds. B spent 13 hours this weekend in tall spiky heels dancing (her daughter's wedding) so she strained her knee.

No cantering in today's lesson, Debbie said that I shouldn't get sweaty and catch a chill. So we did trot circles, serpentines and worked on our upward and downward transitions. Walk to trot, trot to walk. It was really good. I was getting her to not fall so much on her forehand when coming into the downward transition. I had no energy due to my cold really beating on me, so it was hard for me to drive her into the bridle.

B on the other hand, had an amazing lesson!! She's on a big mare named Jazzy who's not completely finished as a dressage horse yet, but she loves it cuz Jazzy's BIG. B loves her big draft horses with lots of hair. She is a pretty horse, but she has that attitude of "You can't make me do anything I don't want to do" (Big horse mentality). Jazzy's issue is that she's not quite sure she wants to do everything that we want her to do yet. She's been left to her own devices for a while so she's rebelling. This week, B didn't let her. She put her in her place and Jazzy was so shocked, that she didn't even try to not listen. It was really good for both of them.

Next week, hopefully I'm in tip-top shape, and ready to tackle dressage anew. Plus, the barn's Holiday party is coming up next week!! I'm super excited.
xoxo

Winter Blues & 2012

It's amazing how quickly one's body hates you after exercise. My body is so sore, it's almost like I haven't ridden in years, not just missed one lesson.

Last night's lesson was intense. All my lessons are intense, but they're getting increasingly so. I'm getting not so much into harder stuff, or more complicated, I'm just having to USE more of my own energy to help motivate and drive Tiffany into her collection. We were working on 20 metre circles, and how to measure one. I've never had to learn that before, as in Western we aren't as exact with our circles. Large and Small circles. Not 10m or 20m. It was really cool to learn. Dressage also has more letters on the wall than Western, which takes some getting used too. Debbie's always like ok at P... and I have to look to see where the hell P is. So as we are working on collection, at a 20m circle, and making square corners, I'm also trying not to slowly fall apart as my energy starts failing. It's hard work, moving your core, keeping it tight. It really works to help keep the horse together, and it'll give me amazing abs. My thighs, they burn, but in a good way. I probably shouldn't have worn heels to work on a Wednesday because all through my lesson my toes kept cramping up. Very unusual feeling. It's like you have no control and your foot feels like it's stuck in the stirrups.

It's an amazing feeling when your horse starts to get it and work on it's own. By the end of the lesson, I had her doing some amazing circles, collected, flexing to the inside, and it's just like "Wow, this feels (almost) effortless". It took effort to get there, but once there, she's holding the frame, and your just driving her forward. I hate missing a lesson because I love that feeling. The feeling of accomplishment. Not to mention even though it was -20 outside last night, I was sweating. It was a great feeling to know that I can actually get a work up and build a sweat. In Western, I do have to say that unless it was ridiculously hot outside, I never actually felt like I was working hard every lesson. Sometimes, yeah. But every lesson? Not at all. I never in the winter would work enough to make my toes hot. Yeah, toes. I always had to wear double socks. Now? One pair. No long johns. It's crazy. **I am wearing winter boots and breeches, so I'm getting extra warmth that way.

Also, the barn cat had 2 kittens, and they look exactly like her: super cute, all white, and super blue eyes. Also they don't like their pictures being taken, they walk away! Sigh. I tried my best with these pictures, also with my phone that has no flash. There are only 2 kittens, it just looks like four because of the mirror!

On a slightly different note, it's very exciting because there are lots of cool "horse" stuff happening in the next coming year. Mirvish has released their 2011/2012 theatre season and there is a horse related production coming in February 2012! War Horse, is coming to Toronto. I'm very, very excited about it. It looks fantastic, and I'm pretty sure that I'm going to cry like a baby throughout the entire thing. Another thing that might be coming to Toronto is Cavalia 2! That should be amazing, just like the first one. I will definitely go see that, as now I have a new appreciation for the dressage work that they do.

War Horse preview!

Planning ahead to 2012,
xoxo

Another Cancellation...

Sigh. This time though, I can blame the damn weather. We had a snowstorm that put the whole city of Toronto and the GTA in alert. Even though people didn't think it was that bad, there were a lot of cars that ended up in the ditch. I talked to Debbie and she said that we would plan a make up lesson.

Damn weather! What can you expect for January in Ontario?

xoxo