Recent dressage lesson = TONS of homework

Continuing on my recap from the weekend...it also includes my Sunday dressage lesson. I dont normally do lessons on Sundays other then teaching my own lessons, but with it being overcast and a bit drizzly I jumped at the shot to slip in an opening that C had right after Emma had her lesson.

So we hitched a ride with Emma and I am thankful she got Tillie loaded up for me while I finished up with my last few lessons. After a bit of rushing around, it turned out C was running really late so I made it long before Emma got on and was able to watch hers! She'll be recapping her own lesson on her blog I am sure soon - here.

An indication of how our lesson went...a tired and itchy Tillie

I mentioned in my Part 1 recap from Saturday's lesson that lately I have felt Tillie falling back into the old habit of wanting to put herself in a safe zone and not being all that agreeable when I ask to change that. She'll happily go around straight, bent to the inside, high or low but once I put her there, that is where she wants to stay. She is quite smart and only recently did I figure out this is what she was doing rather then just being stiff or harder one way vs another etc. 

C pointed this out right away and said that while its a much better place shes putting herself in, we still need to be able to adjust her more readily and have more give at any time. So we went right to work and I can summarize all I can hear in my brain after the warm up:

1. Push her around the inside leg even more - SO much freakin inside leg
2. Watch out for a stiff right hand, but open and close to have more bend in both elbows especially the left (nice to know I have issues on both sides)
3. My left shoulder creeps forward making me crooked/twisted in my torso
4. Dont be afraid to take the rain until she softens BUT I must soften and follow her back

 Tillie had a few moments of "No I dont think so" before she settled into a nice rhythm and really started to dig into work. She was so into it, her vibe was contagious and I felt a bit like the little engine that could as if she were thinking "I think I can" over and over.

C had us going on a 20 M circle spiraling into a smaller circle focusing on really getting her to give and wrap around my inside leg before using a fairly quick leg yield to push her out without losing the shoulders. Here is where we talked about leg use and keeping it longer when applying it since I have the old habit of lifting my heel and my leg then shrinks about 6". Ok maybe not THAT short, but its a bad habit among many others I need to break.

Here is a video of warm up...notice Tillie really starting to dig it by the end of the clip:

After the warm up we continued trotting but started asking for leg yields, but really quick lateral ones to promote getting her out of her comfort zone. Tillie was all business. 

It felt really good and still amazes me how well she is progressing despite not riding at all during the week with our ring still frozen. After a bit of a break which had a lot less rude pulling and rooting then usual, C had me start back up said, "ok, now sit your trot"

Lol I made a face apparently because she laughed and said everyone makes that face!

Being fairly new to sitting a trot where my horse is actually going...it is not the most pleasant thing in the world. Ill admit, I feel as though I am riding it ok, until I watch the videos. The amount of discomfort that I am emulating is so apparent I was uncomfortable just watching it:

At this point, Emma started filming since my phone died. C  prompted for me to canter (I love how we will be going along and rides as you go and gives us commands a few strides before she wants it). Sadly we missed capturing on video the first and most wonderful right lead canter transition. It took both Tillie and myself by surprise that C even laughed and said it was all over my face.

C had us move onto leg yielding in canter to get her more mobile and rideable in canter. At this point its been all about the basics of balancing her and keep her from diving on the forehand...so it felt really good to receive a command that required taking our canter to the next step - which as you can tell in this clip Tillie wasnt quite prepared for: 

What I have loved about the sitting trot despite how uncomfortable it is, is how much it has helped me get a better feel in the canter. I can only describe it as me feeling more balanced and stuck in the saddle which allows me to use my seat to better help Tillie. The leg yields in the canter were quite fun! Tillie gained a bit of speed through them, but it didnt feel too bad with how soft she was. 

So we moved on the left lead canter which is our harder and weaker lead. C guided me on how to use a better timed half halt to get her more balanced and using herself better without me grabbing and bracing on her. 

It produced quite a nice canter and we were able to do some of the maneuvering from this lead as well. At the end C had us try some lengethings in the trot across our diagonals to promote testing the boundaries of balance which Tillie tends to err on the side of caution. You can see in the clips she gets a bit unsettled and really doesnt let go of her shoulder just yet in them...but C reassured me it would take some time for her to trust herself to just ride very straight, weight even and both elbows stay at my body. 

The lots of homework part includes:

• Taking Tillie big around the entire ring to test try to get her trusting lengthenings more
• Sitting trot there is no head wag which means rising trot happens from tension on my arms
• Bring my left shoulder back/straighter
• MORE inside leg and MORE bend to get her out of the safety zone
• Sitting trot practice rocking back more and letting my "crotch bounce" 
• Stretchy trot (which we did a few circles of here)

Poor Tillie was so tired after trying so hard she was ready to go to sleep:

Harmonious Rides

As you have read, this ridiculous snow has forced us to either haul out to ride or not ride at all...which with work being as rough as it has been, having the time to haul out hasnt been there. BUT rather then teach Sunday like normal, I couldnt with our rings being frozen so I had another free day...so of course I make a point to haul to an indoor to ride.

so pretty

Tillie was an absolute star...I did some warm up in the walk just letting her free walk on a loose rein for a few minutes. I am still really aware of this head wag thing so my goal for todays ride was to see if she did it and if it was P's theory of not being through enough....so my goal was ride her forward thinking and see what I get.

Before I continue, the notion of getting a horse through or on the bit or in a frame...all those key phrases you hear...is always taught right the back end not the head. So yes, I should be riding more forward thinking always, but if you have been following my posts you know how hot my horse gets. The tricky thing about hot horses...when they get forward but are behind your leg so not really accepting the contact. THIS is what I mean by getting Tillie forward thinking...more accepting of my leg without being rushing forward but maintaining a rhythm and willing to seek the contact.

Bright eyed and ready to work

Today, I took dressage trainer C's advice and put her together in the walk before trotting. She was wonderful and remembered how to turn off my seat and bend with the use of my inside leg while keeping a nice marching walk. So without expecting anything other then a willing transition into trot I tried use the quick leg aid like the windshield wiper and she did a nice little spring into a trot. She settled into a nice rhythm and I only wanted rhythm and tempo to maintain at this point...after a few laps in each direction she naturally started seeking the contact on her own. AND NO HEAD WAGGING! 

I noticed tracking left she will tend to get forward more since she gets off balance more easily...while going right shell back off and I shockingly found myself using my driving aids to promote a bigger step. I am starting to think the head wag comes from my tension when she feels unbalanced...

I let her have a walk break keeping in mind we havent been in consistent work before picking her up again and boy was she in work mode. Normally shell start pulling and diving, testing the contact at the walk after I let her stretch...but she was quiet and our trot transition was spot on and connected. 

So we did our homework from a few weeks ago of lengthening and shortening the stride...lengthening on a smaller circle to prevent building or excitement and then shortening on a larger circle. She did it shockingly really well so I went ahead and tested them across our diagonals. 

They may not have been text book correct or pretty, but boy was riding that line fun. You could feel Tillie playing and testing her balance and get close to teetering into canter and re-balance with a small lift of my reins. 

She say oh yea thats fun!

Whats harder for her on these is coming back and restraining herself...which she surprised me again and was willing to come right back to a working trot. 

So after some laughs with my barnmate that hauled with us (she also tried these but on her green and very uncoordinated baby) We moved into leg yielding into canter transitions which my hopes would help a two things: 1) get our leg yields straighter through the body and not lead with the shoulder...and be soft / relaxing into it 2) improve the canter transition which would improve the balance of our canter. 

That sounds hard

It is a great exercise C has had us do a few months ago...and with Tillies left lead being much weaker and being unbalanced decided it would be a good thing to do. 

Tillie did the leg yields only first like a champ and was pretty darn willing to move her butt over when I asked her to keep it in line. So I went ahead and started on the harder lead first and the first canter transition into the left lead was slightly muddled but definitely not as bad as it was before the snow storm. So a few laps in left lead canter I was going to inside leg on and off to get her inside hind "jumping" and could hear C in my head saying "pop! pop!!" and got a pretty nice canter that didnt feel like our dressage lesson where it was on the verge of diving into the ground.

By the 3rd transition, it was spot on. Right lead canter was nice and I worked on getting more canter without getting flat. Its hard for me to think about adding more leg to get uphill when it feels fast, BUT this ride was nice because she felt in a good rhythm that I could push for more. 

After that we called it a day and ended with being a good quiet adult horse and gave a lead over a x-rail to the green bean and Tillie was such a good girl for that too! A few mere months ago that would have sent her exploding!

Now just to get in more riding time!

When you get sucked into your horse's antics

I was quite excited yesterday to be able to make it out for a ride at a decent ride after work. Despite the cold weather, which literally happened overnight, I was ready to get into our training regime and work on some homework. Not to mention, I was eager to try the new footing for myself!

I dont have any new photos to share unfortunately, so Ill just share some old ones for fun! 

Tillie was fairly nice about getting tacked up...she hasnt been lately with her soreness and ulcer issues, but shockingly she wasnt really back sore at all! Still girthy but her ulcer meds should be here hopefully soon. We did some carrot stretches (with left over candy canes!) and got a few pops out from her neck. Today it was only stretching to the right we got them...most days its both sides.

Anyway, we marched down to the ring with purpose to join fellow blogger Emma and another barnmate on her greenie. Knowing Tillie hates the cold, I planned to let her walk and trot around for a bit on a looser rein until she settled in. I made a mental note to bring my quarter sheet and BOT back pad as well (I dont spoil her or anything).

This was my first ride on our new footing and couldnt wait to see if I felt a difference.

New footing!!! 

It was a bit crunchy and starting to want to freeze, but I was really impressed that it still felt nice and bouncy and forgiving...the sand would have been as a hard as a rock. There is some deeper areas that provided some challenges later in our ride, but Ill touch on that later.

Starting out in the walk, Tillie really wanted to be quick...I tried not to fuss at all too much and decided to let it happen with it being so cold and just use circles and changing direction to monitor that. Pushing into trot she felt a bit tense through her body and was hesitant to turn off my outside aids, but she eventually gave in and started maintaining a nice rhythm.

After working on both sides I started putting her together in walk and established inside bend off my inside leg aids and thought about "catching" her with the outside. I took the opportunity to try to work on my own evenness as well. She worked well at the walk and while she wasnt totally relaxed as I would like, decided it didnt want to dwell too much.

Is this relaxed enough for you?

Pushing into trot we worked through the normal conversations and did some random figures and changing rein so she couldnt anticipate and started working into the forward and slower trot homework from our last dressage lesson. This all went quite swimmingly and she began to relax and offer to stretch when I allowed.

I decided it was time to ask for canter. Knowing it was the first canter of the ride tried to keep my expectations light and my own riding out of her way to let her warm up here. I got in pseudo half seat so my bottom lightly touched the saddle, put my hands forward and let her right lead canter just happen. I kept her on the 20 M circle for this. She offered a trot transition and I allowed so we changed the rein to do left lead and it started off just as nicely.....

I swear there is a nice canter in there some days.

...Until she went into the deeper footing in the corner. Her response was to brace and race. I did my best not to grab and put her on a smaller circle and let that do the work of suppling for me but Tillie has caught on to this trick and decided steering wasnt for her.

After a good 2-3 circles of establishing that NO TILLIE you MUST steer when there are this many horses in the ring, we came to trot and I prepared to try again. Well coming down to trot she reverted back to her greener days of holding her head and neck in the "im pretty and doing this whole on the bit thing" that is fake and there is NO contact there at all...but it looks like Im pulling on her because im trying to find some resemblance of weight in my reins.

Once I had at least something to work with, I tried for canter again to work on getting one that was more level headed. Once again it all was fine...until she caught site of the straight away and decided why not brace and head that way and build into a hand gallop...that sounds fun. NOT.

I had to use a one rein stop and kick the snot out of her with my outside aids since that is what she chose to ignore and after some protesting she came down to a walk. Took a minute here to reestablish contact and had to go back into trot work for a while since she wanted to do this choppy jiggy trot behind the contact and be cheeky with me like "Ohhh see I can go slow"

She produced some lovely trot work here after a few laps and was quite supple either direction, even left bend!

I knew I had to canter again though and get a quiet, SOFT canter before I called it quits so I started randomly asking for trot, canter trot and canter on a circle for a bit and back to trot.

She shockingly didnt get too expectant to canter but I just felt like we were out of sync. We werent clicking and I felt like transitions were full on in the 2 score range complete with giraffe mode and inverting.

can we go back to this night when we could canter outside of a circle without losing our brain?!

A few times in the ride, my trainer D's voice came into my head probably because Tillie has acted this way more in his lessons then with anyone else...but all I could hear was "nothings changed in a while, you need to do something to get a bigger response here..."

When walking her out to cool down she was still quite speedy...but at that point I didnt want to mess at all anymore or have any more arguments. I realized I got sucked into her antics already this ride and I felt really disappointed with myself. I have been really good lately about not getting so rattled, but this is the first ride in a long time it got to me.

I dont want to lose this magic!

I guess these rides are bound to happen...but I instantly feel helpless and like I shouldnt be riding unless in a lesson setting. I crave a dressage lesson so bad it puts me off wanting to ride again until I get one which is ridiculous. It doesnt help my last ride in the smaller ring wasnt particularly splendid either...even though that one I didnt get rattled as much it sorta caught up to me here.

Logically I can talk myself off the ledge, but emotionally I succumb to all the negativity. I realized by the time I got home, I have only been in 1 actual P lesson in a month between holidays and Tillie's shoe...and realized SHE has been the reason Ive had confidence and the cool calm go with the flow mentality lately.

I was contemplating missing this weekend to attend a local show, but I think after this ride it is apparent I need to make a visit with DR. P as I am calling her now.

Dressage lesson when your sick = hardest thing ever

Clearly I do not know how to rest up and take it easy...and I was in denial I was sick. So decided Tuesday I would try to suck it up and go to a dressage lesson. C is always great about positional corrections for me while making sure Tillie is doing her job correctly so figured it was the best place for my first ride back on in over a week. 

Tillie showing off her new boots. 

I was so proud of Tillie loading up since we took a friend's green bean horse who wanted nothing to do with loading. Tillie was the adult in this situation (thank god) and was a gem. Patiently waited and went on and off the trailer a few times in the hopes this other horse would load with her on, then maybe without her on....etc.

Yessss I so good! 

So I get on and immediately feel the same old crooked issue with my body...Where I feel like my left leg is longer then my right and constantly feel like I need to shift my weight to the right as if my saddle is crooked. This happens in all saddles...some more then others. I tried to not let it get to me too quickly and just do my best to adjust.

Our walk work was minimal and C instantly remarked how well that looked. Not too fast but not too slow...my first lessons with C the walk was rushed and then it became too slow in the next few. Tillie has the tendency to answer things in this way and sllllowwwly come to the middle eventually.

We started trotting and she felt really consistent but my arms felt like they weighed a ton. I believe now this was just from being sick/tired because riding since then each ride I have slowly regained my strength and its much improved. We warmed up with some leg yielding off the quarter line and I expressed my left bend issue of how she tricks me.

So we worked on riding more off my outside rein to close that door for when she likes to fall out and lose the outside shoulder and really use more inside leg to wake up the trot. Rides like these when I need more forward trot tend to mess with my head since I am so ingrained to slow it all down...but HEY new problems means progress right?!

We then spent some time discussing stretchy trot and worked on this with Tillie since I had left off working on that. Low and behold Tillie gave me the most wonderful willingness to stretch and all it took was taking a bit more of the inside rein and letting the outside slip out. Riding with wide hands when she loses the connection, and bring them together and forward as she stretches. Sounds so simple lol but it worked!

Psh this is no big deal any more mom!

There was a lot of commotion with it being feeding time at this point and I was so proud of Tillie for not going full giraffe mode like normal and stayed focused in work mode. 

We moved on to canter work which felt sooo strange to me. Not riding for over a week has a funny way of making it all seem foreign...but C said again she thought she looked pretty good and we would start working now on introducing a counter canter exercise to prep for that. 

I struggled a bit understanding at first what she wanted which led to a confused Tillie...and she really let me know how unfair it was at one point. C wanted us cantering and after the corner present like we were going to do a diagonal change of rein, but then by the center of the ring, still be on the quarter line and present Tillie back to the corner. 

Drawing it out makes more sense then explaining it

I was riding too deep and going all the way to the center line and when I heard C say no too deep I would panick and go back to the wall which confused Tillie and would result some of the time getting a flying change (which I have no idea how to ride or ask for yet...lol so good to know they are there!) and my balance and weight being all wrong and Tillie just getting pissed at me for getting in her way. 

BUT I finally understood it when C walked it for me...lol yes I was having that much of an issue and was clearly on the struggle bus and it produced such a wonderful canter by the end. 

It was clear at this point too, but crookedness issue was part of what was making this exercise so hard which C agreed and imbalance will get called out and show up in lateral work. So I need to go back to yoga and rebuild back to how strong I was before getting sick to catch myself back up. 

C left me with one more exercise where I would try an extended trot across the diagonal and then trot a 10 m circle to get her back to get Tillie sitting and lifting with a bit more forward and balanced and back to slow and balanced which is hard for her, and to test my evenness in both stirrups. 

The first two times Tillie broke to canter. The first time was right lead canter and then left because I over corrected. The last few times doing it was the coolest feeling...while it wasnt 100% correct extended trot C was excited we had a few steps of Tillie really sitting and toeing the line with the toe flick...she said you could really see Tillie testing her balance here and was impressed with how quickly she got comfortable doing it.

Tillie on the left ignoring the baby horse quivering and her shennanigans

Horse eating gremlins are everywhere

Wednesdays ride was the ride I like to call "overcome with the fear of horse eating gremlins." To be fair Tillie was wonderful in the ring...it was just our experiences when we left the ring that made this ride a bit more interesting.

Trying to hold on to the simple things in life, like a pretty sunset even if our ride wasnt stellar

Wednesday I really had to talk myself into going to ride. I just was not feeling motivated, but I am glad I did go. Despite there being lessons going on with some questionable steering, Tillie was pretty focused. Not quite as soft or supple as I would like, but she would give my some lengthening of her neck without losing her tempo or the connection!

BOT mesh sheet before and after rides = a happy relaxed Tillie

I did some canter work pushing the canter forward and then asking her to back off again without using any hand. As hard as that was to do, I was really impressed with how well she did it and without sass UNTIL the lesson with the children left and she noticed Isabelle (You'll often see her in Emma's blog) being long lined in the round pen next to the ring. She locked her side eye on her and began bracing on the right rein...even though we had been working past Isabelle the entire time without problems at this point...and when I did a check and balance on it she did a bit of a head toss before settling down.

The end of our trail ride adventure...where Tillie thought everything would eat her

 I made her do it one more time at the same end of the ring to establish it is possible when other horses are around and then decided to push my luck and take her on a cool down walk through the woods. After all, most days I get there after work so its too dark to go and I am usually too chicken to alone. BUT Tillie does seem to look to me more when we are without other horses and riders and I figured she needs to do this alone if we ever are going to improve and try conditioning one of these days.

She was a bit tense and looky at deer, fox, random leaves which I all scolded her slightly reminding her these things live with her in her pasture every day (Yes literally the deer come in her field every night). She kept it together until we came upon Gremlin Mountain.

I call it that because every time I have ridden this ravine/hill down to the stream crossing no matter which direction (ascending or descending) every horse, the seasoned and the green, just do not seem to like it. So we all have joked there must be horse eating gremlins down there we humans cant see...

After a few rears and spins without any bolting (see its the simple things) I got the mare down the hill and across the stream without any more trouble.

Yay for progress!

Just do it (and questions about stretching)

I have found that whenever I go a certain period without riding, I actually require a lot of motivation to get back on and get back to work. I come up with every excuse in the book to prolong the inevitable. 

When I think about it, its so strange I do this because I miss it incredibly when I can't ride. So why all the angst? Finally it hit me...I am an amateur holding my riding with such high expectations and ambitions to that of a professional. This means I am constantly letting myself down. So I prolong getting back on the horse and experiencing the let down of what happens when your horse hasn't been in work so they forget the last 5 things you worked on. 

Luckily for me, I have the best barn friend, Merideth, who not only rode Tillie for me while I was away, but also to kick me in the butt and remind me of what a great horse I have and just do it. 

Eager and ready to work as always.

So I turned on my favorite Pandora station and turned off my anxieties and then I got on my horse for the first time in over a week. It was a bit eerie because no one was around with it being close to 8pm, but I breathed out a huge sigh of relief as we walked around on a loose rein for a few laps. 

I decided to approach the ride with a KISS mentality of just keeping things simple to prevent me having that "let down" feeling. I also decided to worship the fact I had a quiet and willing horse that wasn't so anxious or protesting any little cue from me like I have had in the past. There was a time not so long ago that walking around on a loose rein would not have boded well for my well being. 

So happy to see my girl after being away.

The next thought I had after starting to put her together was just how grateful I am to Merideth because I had a horse that felt like butter in all three gaits. She knew we were working and, like an old pro, quietly and willingly answered all my questions with crystal clear, definitive responses. Even if they were not exactly correct, she was doing them willingly and genuinely trying. 

I decided within 10 minutes of riding Tillie that I need to somehow convince Meri to school Tillie more for a few reasons:

1. Merideth doesnt have the same baggage I do when it comes to Tillie so she has a fresh perspective on what Tillie feels like. There is no "Normal" or what Tillie usually does, but rather this is how it needs to feel in the universal sense. 
2. Merideth doesnt coddle Tillie like I do and gets after her when she starts to evade, therefore problems get nipped right away before they become problems.
3. Having another rider other then me makes Tillie more educated and versatile so she is more accepting of the aids. 

These late night rides are exhausting

Her canter transitions were on point...relaxed into it, yet sitting and really pushing into the canter without all the extraneous "weeee we go fast now". We did a bit of schooling of the canter to trot transitions as she wanted to fall behind my leg and tense into it (it felt like she would coil and do a itty bitty canter before breaking into an unbalanced trot) rather then seek the contact and step into it.

After one time establishing this isnt how its done, she was much better keeping her spine more relaxed...relaxed for Tillie anyway. 

 I did ride with my reins incorrectly how my last trainer suggested and I must admit, it was kinda nice. I couldn't hang on Tillie even if I wanted to. Holding them that way made me use my reins when needed and leave them alone when not as well as carry my hands. 

I also pulled my stirrups for the last 20 minutes in the name of No Stirrup November and tried to use this opportunity to get Tillie to stretch more into contact and take a longer, lower frame (this is something Merideth started working on in her lesson with her and apparently Tillie was quite rude about jerking down). 

I know she can stretch!! Now how to do it under saddle?!

Trying the new:

Tillie quite happily trotted along not really doing much...so basically did NOT understand what I wanted at all without giving me any answers really at all. Hey at least we had a rhythm down right? So as my legs are screaming at me I keep trying to apply my leg and take it off so I dont nag with it on constantly. I think she thought I just wanted to stay "Here" and that was that.

So I tried getting different answers from her by asking for smaller steps without losing the energy, then, when that didnt work, bigger steps without speeding up. I tried staying on a 20m circle then spiraling larger and smaller to see if she had a preference...Nope. Nothing. 

Tillie's version of long and low has only happened while galloping at warp speed.

I could tell she was getting a bit confused so did some lateral movements shes really good at to build her confidence again and then tried again. 

Damn mare holds her neck righhhht where it meets the withers and just wont stretch at the trot. At the walk, got it. Ask for it at the trot and its like she doesnt trust her own balance. I mmmayyybe started getting a litttttle longer by the end but it was only a few steps here or there and more so tracking right then left. 

This picture is extremely dark, BUT it is one of her from the first few months I had her where she is
 stretching and showing she is capable of seeking contact. 

She just doesnt follow the contact like she should. Eventually as I slowly slip the rein, she will but at a certain point there is nothing and she eventually seems to either get bored or just isnt sure and she comes above the contact again. 

I stayed patient and changed my approach to just asking for any iota of a response, right or wrong, rather then her going around doing nothing. Eventually I did get small responses so I guess that is good right? **sigh** Something I'll need to ask about in a follow up lesson later this week. I also am toying with setting up my mullen bridle again and riding her in that for this purpose to get her seeking the contact again - the trick being not letting her lean or fall on the forehand. 

Countdown to Loch Moy starter Trial - Dressage Preparation

I have so much to post about right now, but Ill do my best to spread it out so I do not overload you all at once.

After concluding a grueling week of CHA certification (I am proud that I received the highest level of certification for english and jumping instruction!) I decided I needed a dressage lesson to get back to business.

Tillie seemed a bit more stiff then usual. This is relatively speaking, I just had to work a lot harder then I was used to. It could very well have been the fact that I was exhausted after logging in close to 40 hours of saddle time the week of. (The good news is riding all the different horses in more basic lessons, I got to focus on my collapsing problems, equitation and lower leg.)

This lesson I felt like we had NO left bend at all. She was willing to do whatever I asked, but just seemed a little bit more effort on my part to manipulate.

I do have a short clip a friend captured...but it is not the greatest quality:

I didnt feel particularly great about it, but after seeing the clip have decided maybe I need to calibrate what feels right and wrong. I struggle with that anyway right now...but be more able to let go "what it usually feels like" because if I always try to recreate that, we wont improve.

Screenshot from our trot circle after the canter.

Her trot after the canter got much more elastic...so lesson learned, warm up faster in the canter!

Keep calm and ride straight

It is no secret that I have my fair share of straightness problems...especially with my alignment issues that drive me insane! I have seen a chiropractor and started yoga - both of which have helped - but my delicate flower of a mare really calls me out on it when I have an off day.

I had a dressage lesson with C last night and could feel as soon as I sat in my saddle the right side was tighter. I attempted to stretch it out in the warm up but I decided not to get too hung up on it and just ride what I had.

A few stills from last nights lesson...amazing the transformation since July!

I am so incredibly proud of Tillie and how much shes grown up this time starting back up after an injury. This is the first time I feel like my horse may be not so green anymore and is beginning to understand her job.

This lesson we had some shoulder alignment issues...pushing them all over the place except square. In all honesty, it was me not owning the outside rein enough. This is a new issue tracking left since she usually falls in. Is it odd to be excited over having a new issue to fix?

Ok maybe not excited, but to me it means shes trying to figure out what I am asking for a trying different answers. Eventually we may end up in the middle where we belong.

Warm up trot:

I was also really excited that we spent maybe 5 minutes at the walk (yay for progress) and much more time at the trot. I was also quite surprised at how quickly she put herself together without bobbing above or below the contact...

Here is an old video from July for reference:

C commented how much more balanced she is since this video and more uphill...she no longer is rooting or pulling on my nearly as much and much softer through her entire body. We still have a lot of work to do, but its nice to finally see progress and not feel so stuck.

More stills:

On the other hand. I have no idea what in the hell is wrong with my left leg lately swinging back and my heel...Ill have to make a point to work on that the next few rides.

Then onto the canter - which now C has me sitting again!

Working on my hitting letters better and keeping Tillie focused through a diagonal/straight line. I really do suck at figures and my circles it turns out.

Trying to fix the shoulder issues:

Warm up right lead canter working on softer hands so she can better carry me...not me carry her.

Finally we did a dry run of the BN test B:

Not the greatest test...many things being my error. I need to do better with my circle sizes, riding my corners and hitting letters. Basically all the basics lol. Considering Ive only ridden 6 tests in my life I can acknowledge riding tests arent my strong suit...planning ahead and being deliberate is tough after riding "training" rides and the horse I have.

C recommended not overriding this test as she fears Tillie would learn it. She said that if I can ride her the way I have been, we would easily score low 30's / high 20's...YAY!!

I have a D lesson tonight...lets hope it goes just as well!

New trainer...yay or neigh?

The new potential trainer/instructor made the drive out to the farm last night. He was polite and seemed to know a lot from what I could decipher from his accent.

I did my research on him before coming, the little that I could find. I dont want to share too much to keep his identity safe, but he is fairly new to the US (which I knew) so does not have many clients yet or any prospects. His background is in jumpers and eventing at the 1* level...which I did find records on.

So not quite as experienced as the other few trainers I have used and he is the youngest (not by much). BUT age and experience, while they do mean more wisdom, does not always mean they are good at sharing and teaching that wisdom.

He said all the same things about Tillie that I have been hearing from all the other trainers. The top ones that stood out:

1. She needs to soften her back more
2. Her lateral movements are shockingly amazing and nimble
3. She needs to use her hind end more  

He rode her first so I could see his style....and because this person or whoever my next trainer will be, will potentially help me with a training rides here or there like D does. Right away I noticed how much Tillie did not seem to mind him. New riders to her are usually like fresh meat...she tail swishes and squeals and threatens all sorts of non-sense before settling in to work. 

Tillie did none of those things and seemed pleased to work. Her ears were listening and floppy at times and you could see the wheels turning in her head as he rode her around. 

He did a lot of counter bending, asking for bigger steps then "shhhhing" her and asking for slower steps. He played around with some shoulder in too. 

They trotted A LOT. He seemed to have the same approach as C in getting her going before asking to connect. He worked with her on her wanting to brace through the changing rein when changing from tracking right to left. I like what I saw when he would put his inside hand forward giving her a floppy rain for few strides and pat her before picking it up again...something I am really bad about doing.

They then moved on to schooling canter transitions. He said she needs to be better about sitting when going into them and make it clearer rather then the few quick trot steps before leading into the canter. He also instigated a more forward canter to attempt to get her excited (since I mentioned this was an issue) and then correct it by using his seat. 

 He was quite impressed at the walk and trot how responsive she was to the seat for transitioning and said she just needs that same level at the canter. He then was trying to get her to stretch more at the trot, but she just didnt relax enough in her back to allow for that. I heard him using his voice and "shhhing" her a lot which I thought was cool.

He then had me get on to try to recreate the canter transitions he just schooled. So it was a little bit of a taste for what a lesson would be like. Immediately when I got on, I notices how much more in the reins Tillie felt. It's hard to say if it was a good feeling or bad, it just felt like I had a lot more there...usually the contact is so light so sometimes its hard to make that half halt with her. 

He gave me some homework to do - which I always love homework! I need to be able to recreate the lesson without my trainer there to a certain extent. He suggested lots of random ground poles to randomly work over them to help "surprise" Tillie and ride through that to promote getting her relaxed...Also raise caveletti in trot work to build strength. 

When jumping she recommended only using placement poles. 

So here is their first few rounds of trotting...so she wasnt quite as relaxed here. But I look forward to hearing anyone's thoughts and open to suggestions on other local trainers. 

Where there are highs there are lows

So my lesson post two days ago was so over joyed that I admit I felt like I was on top of the world. I have to really watch and manage my emotions better when it comes to our progress because such highs make the lows that much lower.

Let me stop right here and preface the rest of this post by saying, my ride last night was not a low worth complaining about at all by any means. It just feels that way after having THAT fabulous of a ride...and in all fairness, I did get on knowing I would probably not get even a shadow of the ride I had in my lesson with C. I know it will take way more time for both Tillie and I to achieve the consistency of what we can in a lesson setting, outside of one at home.

Sweaty Tillie says "I tired"

The tone of the ride didnt start of well for a number of reasons. First, there was a HUGE lesson happening with 4 or 5 students in addition to two other rides (aside from myself) also trying to get in rides. Now, I can share my space...and I also teach beginner lessons at my barn so understand the difficulty of trying to herd the students and remind them of ring etiquette...But trying to ride amid the chaos was really frustrating once I tried to start our trot work.

Look, I totally understand, these students are learning and just don't always have the degree of control and sometimes cut the ring corners, come off the rail..etc. I ALSO understand I am an adult advanced rider that should be capable of navigating and adapting to this environment. I guess though I was on the struggle bus because I felt like every time I began to ask for our trot we would have to suddenly veer or dart out of someone's way.

I at first was frustrated with Tillie...Why mare cant you just soften like the wonderfully flexible cloud I was riding the day before? Why on earth are you falling in left and speeding up tracking left? Well take a stressful day at work + the chaos of that many riders in the ring = a very tense me. 

I pulled a few one-rein stops because she would tense up, especially tracking left, brace and cross her jaw - to which a spectator would think I am crazy for flexing my horse into a one rein stop. Can I add: I HATE getting after my horse in front of other people. I know sometimes you have to and I feel terrible too because I know it wasnt her fault exactly...but I still really get unsettled by it. 

The wonderful thing about horses - they dont hold it against you.

Hey mom, dont be sad! 

So the ring cleared out a bit and all was left was myself, fellow blogger Emma and a lease rider. So all perfectly capable of navigating a ring. Well struggle bus was still full force because I STILL felt in the way. 

I also admit my homework from C is to stay off the rail so Tillie can balance herself without the rail as a guide so I am probably the one at fault here. 

I basically threw up my hands at one point and just took a minute to try to erase the first 20 min and start over. After a few more conversations with Tilie and pushing through tension, I felt like we FINALLY got over the hump and parked the struggle bus for the night. 

A very worn out Tillie just wants to go to bed

I did a lot of changing rein again, REALLY trying not to let her rush to the left or pull her out with my right rein. I played around a bit with my weight like we did with C and VOILA!! Magically we got left bend. 

From there, things got better. Cantering was a huge win...I could throw away my inside rein and she would stay bent, turning off my outside aids. Right lead especially I got the most lovely soft connection and downward transitions. Something really clicked in the canter for me and I felt like I could use leg and ask for more without thinking "OMG this is way too fast!"

I let her stretch at the end and played with her moving off both legs and a stretchy trot...which shockingly Tillie did without pulling or yanking the contact down like she normally wants to. 

All in all, I walked away from the ride feeling a bit let down on myself for not having patience and not adapting to the situation (considering its the perfect show ring warm up scenario) and feeling incredibly happy my horse is resilient...for the most part. 

How do you guys turn off and reroute your frustrations? 

Giddying up and dressaging

I am beyond excited to report on my dressage lesson with C last night. My posts usually lie on the frustrated, we-aren't-getting-it side...but today's will be just over the top patting myself and Tillie on the back.

I don't brag or have a lot of confidence so I hope this post doesn't come across that way...BUT:

I sadly did not have a wing man to get and footage this time so Ill do the best I can to describe just how phenomenal it was.

Tillie says "I was a good girl!"

Tillie loaded on the trailer wonderfully both times! This is always a bit stressful when going without a wing man, but thankfully Tillie practically self loads. She is always a bit restless when we load at home and didnt settle in or eat any hay until well after arriving to C's. Even still she was looking around and wide-eyed like she never has seen this place before (it was our 4th time I believe?)

We got on, filled in C on our progress, frustrations etc and we picked up where we left off last lesson. We stared at the walk, again focusing on keeping the rhythm as we pick up contact without slowing down. 

Much calmer Tillie after the lesson...munching on hay like no big deal

Tillie was able to achieve this in less time so we moved into the trot. The first transition was a bit all over which is to be expected. We lost the contact and she inverts. C insisted she didnt mind as the main goal here in warm up is to get her going forward without rushing no matter where her head is. We took this opportunity to address my position. 

• C said my spine curves too much, so "suck" in my tummy to flatten out my spine
• Hands are better! The right hand still needs to stay lower and at my saddle pad until it stops going rouge
• I am better about posting and moving with her (C said I am less protective of myself and more relaxed).

Isnt she just the cutest!?

After a few 20 meter circles and we started asking for contact. She started a bit tight on the right (last time it was left). Silly mare likes to change things up. Once we established bend both ways, we did serpentines where we discussed changing the rein and how to ride it. 

Initially Tillie would go full giraffe mode through the change on the straight-away until C explained that even when riding straight, you still need to ride the new direction...so essentially always ride the bend just a little less. Once we did this, Tillie was offering to move into the contact more and when softening would stretch - C was ecstatic over this! 

X marks the spot to change...so simple and ridiculous

We focused a lot on staying off the rail to allow her to balance herself. C was excited at how much less I was doing and Tillie balancing herself better which allowed a more correct contact. We also addressed my own crookedness here and talked about stretching taller through my right side without getting crooked in my spine. What do you know, Tillie magically was more even feeling under me! 

We then moved to canter and the transitions in and out were really spot on. C exclaimed at one point that they were easily 8 quality transitions!!!! WOOO this is where we lose a lot of points in past dressage tests. 

Can we go home and get dinner now? 

We really then focused on throwing away the inside rein and correctly using my seat to turn her of the outside aids. Tillie responded immediately as soon as I correct my weight placement. What a good Tillie! 

All in all I felt like a million bucks. Especially when C said Tillie looked like a totally different horse from our last lesson. She said she was much softer through her back, uphill and carrying herself more correctly. She also said my position has greatly improved since the first lesson with her.