Today was lesson day and it was great! We got so lucky! The weather prediction was pretty icky. It was supposed to storm all night and into late morning... like thunderstorms, possible tornados, and high winds. Yuck! Caroline had put all of us lessoning in the covered because the arena's were closed because of the rain, but still.. That meant I'd have to load, haul, and tack up in the weather and then enjoy the covered. So I was praying that the storm would happen overnight, not be that bad, and clear by the time I had to leave. And it did!!! It stormed from about 4 am to 8 am. Then it was cloudy and windy but not too bad when I fed.
Funny loaded up and I left her blanket on as it was still a bit chilly. She was warm when we got to Ashland and I had enough time that I parked at the showgrounds so we could have a nice warm up hack. Especially because I knew we would have to book it home to get back in time for lesson #2 with Lyric. I tacked up and we took the long way... we went around the blue heron lake/little lake and it's actually a really nice warm up walk. There's a good bit of hills!
We got to one of the Ashland pastures and they had flipped the water tubs over as they were resting that field. Right as Funny saw them, she slipped a little bit in the wet and so...she took offense! I thought for a split second that I wasn't going to be able to get her past them! Silly girl! But we managed. She was feisty and amped up today! We walked around the mini jump course and walked the three cavalettis as we waited for Caroline to finish. I trotted them once but it was so squishy and I was leaving hoof prints so we quit.
When it was our turn I told Kelly that we had been doing our homework and it was getting better but that we were still struggling with the canter getting her all amped up and giving her "canter brain". So, she said let's work on it. And then we sort of got sidetracked. ha! We trotted a few serpentines to warm up and then we cantered about 2 circles each direction. The left lead was hard again and it took us a few tries to get it. Kelly mentioned that I was giving my right/outside hand too far forward, so... think of holding a better connection with it. That didn't work so then she told me to think of almost counterbending her... and that did the trick. It just solved her "right shoulder-itis" and got that right shoulder back underneath her and kept me from throwing the right/outside rein away. We also talked about how I really need to keep it clear with my aids and that the outside leg was the canter aid. Noted... noted.
So then we went back to the trot and almost immediately Kelly stopped me and told me she was going to get fun training tools! Uh oh!! I had a moment of panic because I thought she might try to put us in a german martingale or side reins or something and... Funny likes to rear! But, I should have known better... it was the polo wrap trick. And it was fabulous! We put a polo wrap at the girth and then looped it up to my hands. We did tie it in a knot because Funny being Funny... if I needed to drop it due to shenanigans, then we didn't have a loose wrap dangling from her belly. The goal was to hold it with my hands and it helped to quiet my hands, turn my focus to my leg and seat, and also work as a belly band too I suppose. And it did! I kept my hands wide on it and she had me pull up on the polo wrap. This served to keep my hands directed up, against the polo wrap, vs against Funny's mouth. And that plugged my seat bones into the saddle. Which centered me and made it harder for Funny to pull me out of the saddle and forward. And it reminded me to bend my elbows and not lock my arms. Then I had to remember to move my elbows and shoulders with the motion of her head, so I wasn't restricting her. So... lots of good things. In theory, it also helped me keep my hands even. At one point I was lifting my inside hand when I was trying to get her off my inside leg. Nope... that's not how it works. Kelly asked if I like martinis'.... Not really... how about beer.. meh... but cider beer. So, Okay... pretend like there's a cider beer balanced on the polo wrap and if you're hands aren't even, it'll tip over. I said okay, but maybe instead of cider beer, a plate or raw oysters! Because I just paid $30 for a dozen last night and I definitely don't want to spill those!! :) ha! This also quieted my hand aids by default. And because my seat was plugged in, she wasn't zooming! In fact, I even had to kick her forward some. And because my hands were occupied, I had to focus on my leg and seat aids to get her bending around my leg. So we did a little bit of shock and awe with it. I was allowed to use my leg every stride IF it was only my inside leg for bend. I was not allowed to kick every stride. If she got behind my leg, then I could kick and get her in front, but not nag. If she fell behind my leg and I had to kick more then every quarter part of the circle, then I was to whomp her a few times and then take my leg off again. I was allowed to use my inside leg every stride but if she was ignoring me or not trying... (and she only had to try... if she was doing the best she could at the moment, that was enough) then I was to whomp her with only my inside leg. BUT... bring her down to a walk to do it. Partly because then she associated inside leg with bend NOT speed, but also because it's less tempting to use my hands too and it isolates the aid a bit better to make it more clear. Ahhhh, okay! I can do that.
So we did. We trotted circles and if I had to get more bend, we came down to the walk and whomp.. and then back up to the trot. And holy cow, it freakin' worked! I still had to move my hands inside and outside a hair to catch her shoulders, but overall, it was much less movement, much less catching her, and much smoother. AND she stopped the random slinging from falling in to falling out every time she passed the one part of the circle. All I had to do was ride inside leg to outside rein and hold my polo wrap. She got so loose and swingy and correct! It was awesome! We went both ways.
And then we cantered, still with the polo wrap. And it was the same concept. We didn't do a ton of cantering, and then we were done. So, yeah... we sort of got side tracked, but it was worth it!
It was a great lesson and Funny felt fantastic! We'll ride with our polo wrap for the next few rides! I joked that mine would be hot pink instead of boring white. Ha ha. But sadly, I only have white and navy. ;)
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