More snow and arctic weather :(

I was really looking forward to Presidents day because unlike many other companies, mine gives us off (except we didnt for MLK day...weird but hey Ill take it!). I actually thought we could trailer again to get a decent ride in and had it alllll planned out, except I woke up bright and early to see the weather they were predicting for later in the day to have already arrived in full swing.

It is the kind of snow that is not a lot quickly but just enough to cover roads that arent treated and potentially be a problem...and could be fine. I am still fairly new to trailering (2-3 years experience) and was not about to risk it. So we settled for a ride at home in less then ideal footing conditions...

Just one more bite of hay mom!

We started off in the small arena in the hopes the footing wouldnt be sooo bad but it would mean staying on a 20 ish meter circle most of the time. I let Tillie walk around a bit to re-acquaint herself with that ring since she was a bit curious about everything up there. In all fairness you can see everything from this ring...there are fields with horses in it surrounding 3 of the 4 sides so it can get a bit distracting.

bundling up!

When asking to trot at first I let the reins stay really loose to let her work out the footing and balance without my help...she was ok, but really tense and protective of herself. She did a few head tosses letting me know just how unhappy she was, but kept it together for the most part.

The snow is pretty at least....

 I only rode for about 20 minutes and didnt really ask to push much in the trot...she felt really stuck and not willing to move out mostly because every time she allowed herself too she would step on a frozen chunk of ice and trip or uneven footing and it would coil her back up. I simply did a few changes of direction asking for bend and decided to hack out instead. Tillie was a good girl and quietly let me open and close the gate...perfectly timed, a barn mate came out with her greenie and joined us.

Tillie was great through the field which usually has gremlins in it until we got closer to the woods and she was sure there was horse-eating monsters lurking so was a bit sucked back. She was a good girl and I really focused on me trusting her with the only rule being, 4-beats and all four feet on the ground. In the past I would muss and fuss with her, but I have learned to let her look and its ok...just keep moving (singing just keep swimming from Dori in finding nemo).

Just keep moving.

We decided not to brave the steep hills for risk of sliding and did a short flat loop in and out of the woods and try hacking around in the gremlin haunted field. Tillie knew right away we were headed back home and it was quite funny her solution to trucking home instead of jigging (see growing up!) was to stomp her feet deliberately and loudly.

Awkward angle = mule version of Tillie

The barn mate was laughing because she sounded like an elephant...Or like a giant troll trying scare away the gremlins. I decided we need to make a point to hack out more...

See - I is calm!

She had one diva moment slipping coming into the field where she leaped and did a few canter strides before deciding it was ok and was back to stomping her way around the perimeter of the field.

Fee-fi-fo-fum stomping Tillie says

We watched our barn mate trot off and circle us for a few minutes and I decided to face the fear of the field and give it a try...last year she would consistently sit down, rear or leap when trying to do anything more then walk because of how much she hated the feeling of the snow and footing (Did I mention she is a diva?)

She was a bit tense at the trot, but overall a good girl! She even started looking for contact and trying to work. I wasnt even going to attempt a canter until my barn mate encouraged me to at least give it a shot since she was already acting more grown up about the trot. 

She gave me some sass in the transition in the right lead canter, but all in all held it together and did ok! She was really protective of herself, but we didnt have leaping or porpoising through the air so I consider that a win. 

Of course you cant canter one way and not try the other...so we gave the weaker, left lead a try. Same sass and head shake in the transition and she was much less happy this direction. Every other stride she would flip her head threatening to be soooo bad. That is all she did though and it never escalated so I waited to ask for trot until she gave me a few strides without flicking...i could tell it was much harder for her to balance this way and didnt want to push it. 

We survived!

 I got off and breathed a sigh of relief...I rode in the field without any huge hissy fits and it wasnt exactly pleasant, but it wasnt nearly as unpleasant as last year! Yay for growing up Tillie!

Sitting trot = human blender

Lately our state has decided it wants to be Alaska because Saturday and Sunday (Valentine's Day) the temperatures dropped to below 20...Sunday, my truck said it was 12 degrees as I loaded up to go for a dressage lesson. Because what else can you do when all your lesson cancelled / the show is cancelled and cant ride on the rock hard footing?

I was also really excited to haul with my new truck for the first time.

Oh so excited!

Backing up to hitch up was easy peasy with the back up camera and now I am officially spoiled (I am sorry...I dont mean to brag!!! I have been driving beater cars my whole adult life - this is my first all out new with all the gadgets!!!)

I was really bummed the dressage show got cancelled...but decided to sneak in one with C to feel a littler better...

I chose to get there early again to give us some time to walk around to warm up since it worked so well the day before. Tillie was a bit more up here...the indoor is MUCH larger and the light was so strong coming in the windows from the snow reflecting it would blind Tillie and then cause her to be a bit jumpy. She finally figured out how to close her eyes going through those patches and settled in ok.

She kept being really rude about any contact with the bit and would root or dive her head down...even in really small short bursts. I worked on addressing that so by the time C said she was ready it wasnt as much of an issue.

Here is our warm up trot:

She started off really stuck and pulled a few whip nae naes when I started asking for bend with some leg. C had us do things realllllly gradually and try to get her warmed up with both inside bending and counter bending before asking for more trot...rather let her offer the bigger trot when she felt warm enough. 

She lost a left hind shoe at the end of the week so I was a bit worried if she was being inconsistent from being sore on that....

Here is our warm up trot tracking left:

She still felt way too light and not confirmed in the contact so C had me start having more of an outside rein conversation and think almost mini leg yield into it so we would spiral out gradually to a large circle, then smaller into a smaller circle and back out.

Then C wanted to use some changing rein exercises to help soften her more and partially through this is when I had a nicer contact and could start manipulating how high or low I wanted her rather then her dictating that herself:

Youll notice pretty early in this video, C instructs me to gently add leg as I set to push her away and encourage lifting her back. Keyword being gently to which Tillie thought my gentle was not gentle enough.

After a few turns, we started having more conversation about softening. 

See we can soften despite the cold

We did some leg yielding each way and leg yielding from right to left was really nice and easy. Seeing it in the mirror was really cool and exciting. The left to right she was having a harder time staying straight, but C had us take a walk break and promised we'd get back to it later in the lesson...she had other plans for us - AKA sitting trot AKA the human blender.

A still of stilling trot...not as bad as it felt

 First sitting it was just all over the place. I really did feel like I was in a blender and might bounce right out of the tack. The key is to still have a good working trot from Tillie, but sit it without asking for her to slow down too much. Her trot got really elastic here and watching this footage makes me really excited.

So C wanted me to ask for canter from the sitting trot...and my muscle memory was really making it hard for me. You can hear her scold me a few times because when I started thinking about other things I accidentally post...hehe "weenie" moves she said.

I cherish these photos of my smiling while riding...this used to be so rare, and now I have found the happy place again!

Unfortunately my phone died before we really got to improving :( but it was really cool how sitting the trot and canter sort of help one another improve. This first right lead canter was the first canter of the lesson and it already felt way more solid and balanced then usual with using sitting trot. 

After this round, we changed direction and I was able to start relaxing a bit more. C noted my sitting trot was MUCH better this direction and I wasnt gripping as much...my knees were open and leg was much longer. Left lead canter was just as nice which was a huge shock considering how unbalanced and weak it has been. 

So we walked after this a bit to mostly let me catch my breath and stretch out my hip flexors which were on fire. Who knew sitting trot was soooo much work?! 

Miss fancy pants

When we picked up sitting trot again, I immediately felt better about it was was able to rock back and engage my core without tensing my upper body or gripping as much with my legs. It took a reminder to breath here and there, but it felt better even with Tillie working in the forward trot she needed to be in. 

From here we did more leg yielding this time coming down the center line, leg yielding staying straighter and asking for canter through the turn. It produced a really nice canter! Tillie did this very well leg yielding right to left into right lead canter. 

We had to practice a few more leg yields left to right, but sitting trot allowed my to close my thigh more to keep her straighter. I notice I tend to tighten my left side this way which is part of the issue in her over bending and leading with the shoulder...I simply am not riding the right side enough and letting go enough with the left side. 

All in all Tillie tried really hard and C was impressed with her work ethic and by the fact she stayed as calm as she did despite the cold and a loose horse. 

The remote start for the truck was really nice to have warm and ready by the time we were done...and I topped off the Valentine's day with lunch with the barn girls and then dinner with the hubby. 

Valentine's day dinner.

Hope you guys had a great Valentines Day!!!

Nothing like a new toy to make the arctic temperatures bearable!

I know my posts have been a bit sporadic lately...and its mostly due to the extreme frigid temps we have had the last week. I dont mind riding in the cold, but the crappy footing makes it just not worth it - Tillie tenses and won't/can't relax because she cant get comfortable and I spend the entire ride with my core activated to help her balance...and in preparation for the airs above the ground she pulls when she slips or looses her footing...so needless to say, I have been really grumpy not riding. 

So I will recap Saturday's lesson and then announce what my fancy new exciting toy is!!! (Dont you dare scroll ahead...you must wait and build the anticipation!) 

Saturday's jump lesson:

Luckily, I have my weekly Saturday lessons with P to look forward to in this dead of winter. We rode with Emma this week with our other barn mates unable to attend. Tillie was not a fan of loading in the step up again, but with some pressure with the dressage whip she succumbed and loaded on ok and with no falling around turns this time!

We way be here in mind, but not in spirit

Tillie just seemed really not eager to be there, but was a good citizen. We got there early to spend a lot of time to just walk and get moving. The footing even out in the fields is not super comfortable so the horses arent moving around that much. 

P knew we all havent been riding so we kept the lesson light and mindful not to let any of the horses sweat or overheat. 

Tillie stealing some of Isabelle's alfalfa

Warming up, Tillie was back to be quick, but behind the leg and not really moving into contact. I did my best to stay consistent and create a conversation with her to encourage stretching out even if that meant opening the throat latch and not really being "on the bit" I just wanted more weight in my reins. period.

I chose to pick my battles and worked more on the tempo considering she hadnt been worked in a week...I didnt care where her nose or head were as long as she would go straight and in an even tempo walk, trot and canter.

We couldn't get any video of this lesson because P had us run everything single file, nose to tail to focus on keeping a rhythm and keeping an equal distance from the horse in front of us through each exercise. It sounds simple....except it is not.

Red head mares and their RBFs

We started off with trotting ground poles...two on one long side, which built to adding two more on the opposing long side. Tillie and I were the caboose and I discovered that despite being the tallest horse in the bunch, had one of the smallest strides so it took some pushing to keep her caught up behind the group.

Then the poles became small 12-18" verticals...all of our horses jumped each and every one like they were way bigger clearly chomping at the bit to be out and working. Somehow Tillie and I became the leader from here on out which worked nicely to force us to push for more forward and help be a bumper car for zooming Izzy behind us.

From last week's lesson, but here to help break up my long windedness

P made it a bit harder and then had us canter the small jumps, still forcing us to focus on maintaining a steady rhythm. I was quite impressed with Tillie, she cantered them just as quietly as trotting them and was easy to rate the canter since they were 2-3 strides between the two poles on each side. 2 longer strides or 3 shorter strides.

P then has us come through and do the diagonal line to change direction as well and make sure we could keep the pace through a change in direction. Then she put them all up a teeny bit to 2-2'3 and asked us to do it again.

Tillie once again was a good girl and kept a good tempo. With them a bit higher we had to pay more attention to rating the canter and adjusting for the second fence depending on how we came into the first one. Tillie was happy to give me an even three stride or reach for the two. P recommended going for the two more consistently to encourage her stretching...this just meant really trying to get her balanced on landing since she tends to land and get flat/heavy on the forehand when she reaches.

Emma and Izzy oh so fashionable after our lesson

While it wasnt the most exciting lesson, it was fun...it was mindless to a certain degree where you sorta let your horse find their own tempo while helping to rebalance here and there. Tillie seemed to really enjoy it and we did run through it once by ourselves to practice riding more forward out of the turn after we started a round and biffed the first distance to the first fence - just sucked back and added rather then take the more correct forward stride. 

All in all it was a good lesson....made all the better by going back to the barn to my new toy......

.....Which is......

.....no not a trailer (yet).........

A NEW TRUCK!!!!!!

My new love of my life (ok at least for now)

My husband quite literally surprised me Friday afternoon while I was at work and said, Hey I think we should trade in my beast of a truck and get something nicer that you can haul with. He had an appointment at the dealership already for a long list of things he needed done to his truck the next morning...

I was a bit skeptical but played along, yea ok well go to the dealership Saturday morning for your new tires for your truck and window shop...thats fun too I guess. 

Well it turned into more just window shopping.

Remote start and heated seats....HELL YEA!

The deal always has been the next new vehicle would be mine since when we first got married I sold my little car so my husband could get his beast of a truck knowing we wouldnt be able to keep that thing forever - it seriously is like a monster truck and lifted and just ridiculous.

Can I sleep in this!?

Not that we are having kids anytime soon, but this new truck we will have for decades and will be our family truck...so we spring for all the bells and whistles. I have never had a vehicle with the fancy add-ons so I feel like this is my first real adult purchase.

Back up camera will make hitching up nice and easy!

I was adamant with my hubby that if we were getting this, we needed to make sure it was built to haul too...I didnt want any less then 7,500lb tow capacity. Once the salesman confirmed it was above that, I was sold. 

Oh hey gorgeous

 I barely test drove it down the block before I knew we had to have it. And within an hour, we signed traded keys and left the beast behind.

Spacious seating for carting around passengers or all the tack I have

I am beyond excited! Even more excited to get a new trailer to go with it that I have been planning...the truck just happened to come earlier then expected :) My husband joked this is why he scrimps on Valentines day or birthday gifts (because he really does suck at those) so he can go all out once in a while like this! lol...poor guy was a bit sad to leave his truck behind, but this one is definitely more luxurious and practical.

Oh and dont worry, we still have the titan as a back up to haul with too just in case...

We actually are starting to look like we know what we are doing

What I love and hate about winters here is how up and down the weather can be...one day youll have fifty degree sunshine and the next frigid and frozen. This last Saturday for our jump lesson we happened to be on the kinder warmer day and lots of snow melting! 

Tillie says I am ready!

I took the opportunity to practice self loading a bit more with Tillie before leaving...just going on and off, going partially on and standing and then backing partially off and waiting. Tillie was a good girl and it helped with her impatience of standing in the trailer before leaving. She can stand beautifully once we get where we are going, but at home will paw and get antsy. Not a huge deal at all...but something if we can work on it, why not. 

We were solo this week in the trailer with our usual trailer mate out of town, but Tillie really didnt care.

Trailering alone means more hay more me!

It was pretty uneventful, which I am really starting to love. We tacked up and this time, I didnt even bring my pelham as a "just-in-case-we-need-it" and I had a moment of crap what I we do...but decided to start giving Tillie the benefit of the doubt and just go with it.

All professional and business now...who needs the pelham!?

We had a much smaller group this lesson with a lot less going on...so it was really nice and quiet. No distractions really and the atmosphere just felt really relaxed and much less tense. I noticed re-watching the videos that I had a much longer rein and trust in Tillie which lead to a much happer looser and relaxed Tillie.

Happy as a clam

 Warming up on the flat Tillie seemed a bit inconsistent...just mistepping here or unbalanced there. Not hugely, just minor things that she would give a little head shake at threatening to be bad. First transition into canter she did a mini explosion, but for her it was just a matter of letting her get the wiggles out and then she was perfectly quiet when we did a few more both ways.

She really wanted to suck behind the bit and trick me into grabbing at her. In the confined space like this indoor she is really tricky - She likes to have me help her, but doesnt want the contact to be too heavy or a certain type depending on where we are in the ring. I tried not to play into it and just stayed steady and let her sort it out.

Nice Knees!!!

So P set up an outside 3 stride line to warm up over and we trotted up to it pretty darn consistent and without rushing...Tillie jumped both like she hasnt seen a fence before but landed quiet and together so just one more time over it was fine. Here is one of the warm up attempts through the line:

I love in the indoor I can ride Tillie forward without worrying about the other side. The indoor naturally makes her more aware and careful making it way more pleasant. The 3 strides rode really nice and smoothly.

P put them up to about 2'6 and then added a jump on the opposite outside line with a barrel under it and had us try this line. Tillie was pretty whatever and unphased by it:

I love having these videos to watch back because I can reflect and almost get more bang for my buck and experience my lesson all over again. Not to mention, visually see what works and what doesnt. I noticed this lesson Tillies form is really getting better! She is stretching out over more of the fences and starting to use herself better.

My equitation woes look like they have helped improve my own form too! 

P built on this other outside line and added another fence making it a 2 stride. It gave the horses a bit more to think about and required a bit more of a push ride. I tend to prefer trotting to jumps with Tillie's old tendency to get too forward. I know I need to let this go because she has proven she isnt a nut job anymore, but old habits die hard and this line I really was unsure about cantering in. Luckily, Tillie ate it up and again was pretty chill about it. I LOVED her form over the first fence in this line:

A Still of us over the barrel...Really proud of my equitation! and look Tillie is stretching out! 

P then set up two fences in the middle of the ring that eventually would make up a course. I love that she sets these things up, has us jump them individually or in pieces before doing them all together in a course. Good thing because these jumps were a bit more narrow then Tillie is used to (I believe they were 8ft poles rather then the 12ft) and she questioned the gate the first time. It was barely anything, and kind of adorable...I simple said "no no" and encouraged with a little squeeze and she said "well ok":

The hogsback was a ton of fun! Mostly becasue it was the one I was the most skeptical to jump since it looked like soooo much. But it rode really nicely. 

I think Tillie has a secret Hunter buried deep somewhere we are tapping into.

P put the diagonal fences up (the hogs back she said was 2'9) and then had us try piecing together the 2 stride outside line with the diagonal fences trying to think about riding a nice approach. Tillie and I really found our groove at this point and the distances came easy. Usually I need to count out loud and loudly to keep a rhythm and sort a distance out. Tillie was all business and really not giving any care to the higher height of the fences:

Big smiles from me! That last fence was just a moment so in tune with each other it felt sooooo good. 

After this run through P changed how we were running the course making the turns much tighter....These diagonal fences subsequently because trickier more technical rides. P told us we had to ride more forward through the corner and really sit on the outside hind leg to keep them balanced through the turn. P had us thinking about counter bending through the turn to keep them straighter so their hind legs didnt squirt out behind them losing impulsion:

Our little blip was my error after the hogs back and not setting Tillie down enough and committing to the change. She does tend to get bracey and rather then sit and make her do it before the corner, I tried not to micromanage, but it turned into me not riding enough. Because I got the change so late tillie questioned the gate again, but was a good, honest girl and took it anyway.

Pay attention Mom!!!

 Notice this round, P changed the first 3 stride line to become a two stride with the second fence an oxer. This helped getting balance back and regrouping happen a little easier for the tight turn to the hogs back.

Soaring over the oxer.

 P had me try the diagonal lines one more time to make sure I got the change sooner, unfortunately the first part got missed, but I did get the simple change before the corner!:

All in all, I was super please with this lesson. Tillie and I both seemed to be on the same page and when I lacked Tillie picked up the slack like a seasoned pro. I am so impressed with how much shes improved and this footage from this lesson showed her form becoming much more consistent. Sure she still wants to curl under herself still at times, but shes stretching sooo much better and really sitting now. Here's to hoping this snow they are calling for isnt THAT bad or misses us so we can keep working at it!  

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!

Biding Time until winter is over....so we dressage

So far we have been pretty lucky with winter...its been fairly warm and mild until the biggest snow fall in the history of our state's snow fall happened (and I am not exaggerating...it really was the largest recorded snow fall in the history of my state).

Sooo much snow...and this is from a few weeks later!!!

The snow fall was enough to put me over the edge...because it means not being able to ride unless I haul out and my job has been limiting that happening since no one wants a stranger in their barn later then 8pm. So anyway, I havent been riding nearly as much as Id like to and its sad. Very sad.

BUT once in a while I can haul somewhere and shockingly Tillie has been pretty behaved and, better yet, ready to work with a nice work ethic.

Is it me or does she look eeevvvvilll here?

Without boring you all too much longer on the intro, I scheduled a dressage lesson with C and finally got the opportunity to try hauling with my trailer with the partition open to see if Tillie's scrambling around turns would be better, worse or the same. 

Luckily all of our self loading practice came into to great use here since with keeping the divider open means no butt bar. I did minimally put up a lead rope but if Tillie realllly wanted to run backwards out of the trailer she could break it easily...but shes really good about waiting for me to ask her to back out.

Night hauling makes taking pictures harder :(

Tillie didnt scramble AT ALL...and majority of the time did keep herself fairly straight, but around turns you could see her swing her butt and angle herself. So I think I need to get myself a wider trailer and haul like this in the meantime...

Lesson Time: (sadly had no one their to take pics or videos)
I get on and just start going through the normal motions of loose rein walk around the whole indoor both directions a few times while waiting for C to finish another lesson. Tillie was quiet, had a bit of a speed walk going on, but not terribly looky like she can be. 

I start picking her up in the walk a bit to test her mood and see how much resistance Id be dealing with once C was ready...and Tillie was quite pleasant and even with a longer rein moved right into contact without missing a beat. Typically even after warming up walk trot canter, going from a loose rein to contact isnt as smooth as this! 

Once C started with our lesson we moved into a trot fairly quickly and her first transition was quite nice and she stayed connected without going inverted. Another Win! We treadmilled it at the trot a bit just to let her warm up...and C thought she looked off right front so we did a few changes of posting diagonals and changing direction see if it was worse on turns or a certain direction....but luckily it went away and Tillie seemed not bothered at all so we pressed on. 

C right away when I trotted again said "no bigger trot then this" which was interesting because I felt like we werent covering enough ground....I attribute this to me getting more comfortable riding her trot now and not always trying or needing to slow things down. 

Can winter and the early darkness be over yet?!

Tillie was pretty consistent in the trot and we worked on getting more inside bend both directions...for this ride, her right bend was much harder. My inside rein would end up touching her neck which C pointed out there should be a clear gap and the inside hand should be open and away...so more inside leg to push her away. But do not lose the outside elbow (I tend to straighten it out too much). 

Leg yielding 

Moving on from that we went into riding down the quarter line and leg yielding, but this time rather then using the entire length of the long side of the arena, C wanted us doing them pretty quickly without leading with the shoulder and focusing on a straightness. Tracking left she nailed every one, tracking right we had a few at first where she really didnt want her booty to stay in line, but a tad more inside leg and outside rein fixed it pretty easily. 

Tillie eating ALL the hay

Tear drop exercise
Then C had us ride tear drop formations (trot and at E make a 10M circle and trot a straight diagonal line between H and F and ask to change the bend). Once I got the hang of the actual figure Tillie rode through this exercise REALLY nicely. C remarked she was impressed!

We took a bit of a walk break and chatted about the upcoming dressage show and discussed strategies...when I started to pick Tillie back up again I reminded myself shorter reins and really felt I found that sweet spot (you know when your seat feels solid, your rein length feels right and the stars align?). Tillie on the other hand didnt appreciate the shorter reins and despite another lovely trot transition and half circle started "whip nae nae-ing" with her head when I applied inside leg (tracking left).

She did it a few times when trying to re-establish bend and I wasnt letting the reins out...C recommended I verbally reprimand her for this....that a physical squeeze or crop for her would be too much but I need to at least tell her NO.

I will admit, I felt like the contact in my reins was heavier then I like (I tend to waiver it seems or say this after not riding for a period of time). I never dislike when this happens...just seem to notice it and feel like its not "soft" enough contact which is false. She is soft...just not behind the contact like she used to be more often a few months ago. I think I just need to re-calibrate my feel...

UMMM...wheres my food?

So we treadmilled a bit at the trot again to let her get those out and C said ok, canter NOW! OK it wasnt quite that abrupt, lol, but it felt sort of sudden...as I wasnt really expecting to move into canter so quickly in the lesson. We sometimes only get to it briefly!

Test riding - being smart about placement of transitions

C did set me up for it talking about the strategy of riding in the test and prep for the transition depending on the horse I had that day. If Tillie was more up to ask earlier to use the corner or turn to back her off, if she was going well ask a bit more in the middle of the corner to present the long side of the ring to promote her opening her stride. 

Canter

So we started on left lead and it took a few steps at first, but she did a nice little jump into it I sort of didnt expect. She felt a bit unbalance on it again so I do a poor job being soft in my arms when this happens...but C talked me through it, we achieved inside bend and she felt a bit smoother once that was better. Her downward transition was a bit strung out and as we changed directions on the short diagonal Tillie was a bit fired up and ready to jumping into right lead canter which I promptly did a strong half halt which C agreed with. It sort of took away the rhythm but it was needed...and we regained a nice balanced trot tracking right within a half circle. 

I so good!

We went right into right lead canter once we passed C and it took a half the circle to get the inside bend, but once we did C even said it was a nice canter. She urged me to step more into my right leg so I dont fall to the outside (which would push tillie in and not be able to bend in). Her downward transition to trot this direction was really lovely. 

Center line - test riding

After this, C had us run through a few center line practices again really concentrating on no drifting...especially when you continue the trot on and turn at C. She said most horse and riders will drift before reaching C and to wait as long as possible to make the turn - for example if youre turning left, you start drifting right when over prepping for the turn. 

C said Tillies weight and muscling is looking good! 

Riding Novice A

Once we got the strategy for the center lines down we moved on to riding through a test. I chose to run through Novice A with C since that's the most difficult test I signed up to do for the dressage show. I am debating now on changing that after this ride and talking with Emma...but we will see how the next week goes if I change. I am currently signed up for BN A and B and Novice A. 

C called out the test as I was riding it and for the most part it rode pretty well. USEF tests tend to be harder for us since there is so much ability to build up in the trot and canter...USDF tests are nice since there is a lot more changing directions, circling, transitions etc to distract Tillie.

Her transitions out of canter to trot were a bit rocky...but C said if I plan them accurately the judge shouldnt be able to see it too much. Her right lead canter transition I planned perfectly and C said we would work on the left lead too next time, but both leads she stepped right into without needing a few steps, I just need to time the transition better and stop anticipating the build up so much.

Nicely trimmed tail :)

Her free walk we talked about her wanting to dive when she stretches...like throw her head down and pull the reins from me rudely. She has a habit of doing this when doing anything stretchy or even when letting her walk on a loose rein. C suggested I dont ever let her go around on a completely contact free rein until she breaks this habit and earns the privilege back. When she goes to root give her a boot or slap with my leg. No pulling of the reins, just a bump using leg. 

Aside from those C was really complimentary and said we definitely earned the award for most improved. :) Its really nice to hear!!! 

I seee you barn cat