Today was fun! We had lessons with Liz. We started with Funny and she came up to the arena very peaceful and zen! However, once we started working, Jean's interns started working on her roundpen and they sounded like they were drilling out screws that were stripped. So Funny got super nervous. Which.. fair! It's a grating noise. And then Liz's jacket fell off the fence and Funny spooked hard at that. Doh! But then, she settled and while she never went back to zen, she did settle and get to work.
We were able to get some nice work despite her being a bit hot and spicy. I'm getting better at finding my balance no matter where she slings me and also better at getting there quickly. Which makes it easier for her to balance underneath me and settle. Yay! Liz complimented my position today too. She said I'm really starting to look like a 5* rider and sitting up correctly and staying poised and balanced. Yay!!
I had to remember to not lock my elbows... keep them elastic but keep them at my side. I need to keep my elbows at my side and lengthen my reins if need be instead of giving her my elbows. And while I need to be elastic, don't give too much! I am trying to soften to her but she's not really ready for that. She's actually ready to accept a bit more contact but she also has to learn to stay there for a bit. I can be soft and elastic but not too soft and throw her away. And the reason we know that she is ready for that is because when I do stay there in the slightly (ha.. it's still very slight) heavier contact, she's not getting heavy. She's still staying very soft in the mouth. yay!
I need to ride off my seat and aids. But softly. I'm still yelling at her without meaning too. When I ask for the trot from the walk, using both legs at the same time is yelling at her! Sometimes even a gentle squeeze is too much! So, cluck softly (so the judge won't hear) and see what happens. Often, that's all I need to do. Or even just start posting. Interestingly, she's better at her walk to trot transitions on the left rein. The right rein still gets a little explosive. Then once we are in the trot, when we go left, I still need to turn my head to the right/outside, which is actually straight but feels like it's to the right. But then keep my shoulders turned left. (I think in my brain.. if I turn my head to look to the inside, I assume my shoulders are following but they are not! So if I don't turn my head, then I focus on turning my shoulders, which is the important part). Well, that and my seat. So turn my pelvis to the left too. And when I do that, she's lovely! And same thing at the canter. So we did the canter and I did all those things and it was great. But then Liz told me to add a little weight into my left seat bone. And OH MY!! Angels Sang!!! It was glorious! Like the most amazing canter she's ever had! Her inside hind just reached right up and forward and her back lifted and she was soft and I could just sit and float with her. Ahhhhhh. It was amazing!! And then, I just closed my thighs and we got a lovely downward to a nice trot too! Oooohhhh!!!
So anyways.. we tried the right lead canter and it wasn't the amazing canter we had going to the right, but it wasn't bad at all. Liz told me not to let anyone tell me to make her more round... she is so uphill that she needs to be more up in her neck. If I try to get her more round, I'll shut her down and send her hind end behind her. Noted!
So then at the very end we were trying to get a nice trot and she was UP! Liz told me to collect her and shorten her and ride her "up" and see what happens. And she piaffed!! Ha ha. Wheeee! That was fun. And sure, it probably wasn't "correct", but it was fun and Funny was so proud of herself. She was so nice and collected and bouncy, but still so animated.
The other take aways from today were that I need to keep my hands wide. If I get them too narrow, I get her claustrophobic and don't get her a place to escape and then she gets nutted up. And don't lock my head! My AA joint gets tight as does hers. If I keep my head slightly bouncing, her's will soften up too. Keep my elbows moving... elastic movement. And then, when she gets tense, I get tense. So... when I tell her "We can't do this in tension"... I have to hold myself accountable too and get myself out of tension. If I breathe.. she breathes! Keep those hips moving.
So yep... lots of fun. That left lead canter was amazingness. We hacked back home and stopped for Dan snuggles on the way.
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