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
No comments:
Post a Comment