Liz lesson

More Liz lesson fun. Funny was in heat again but we had a great lesson. We started quite nice at the walk so we were able to get to the trot fairly quickly. But then Jean's horses started running and screaming and they came galloping up to the fence line. Which was mostly okay... but then Jean went outside and was walking around yelling at her dogs.. and then Funny had to take a moment. Fair enough. She settled pretty quickly though and we went back to work. But then she was frustrated that we weren't cantering and she started propping and bucking. I ignored it and didn't close all the doors and kept my hands wide and she de-escalated pretty quickly. I wonder if she just needed to get out some feelings after Jean. ;)

So the things we learned today... when she gets wonky I tend to get tight in my hands and narrow them. So Liz kept having me widen them. And she kept reminding me that they weren't that wide... She was saying wide hands but I was literally about hip width apart. Are you sure because it felt like I was spreading them as wide as I could... like "I Love THIS much" wide!? Ha ha. But by keeping my hands wider, it gives Funny space. It gives her an out and doesn't make her feel claustrophobic. And then if I relax and open my hips, she starts breathing. I definitely don't want to clamp with my thighs, although there's a difference between closing my thighs and encouraging her back to lift and clamping my thighs. And Funny knows the difference! And staying behind her energy helps too. So I did those things and she came back fairly quickly today. We also leg yielded out in our trot work (and walk work) as she was falling hard into my left leg. 

So then Liz made me a circle. She set up cones and made me a "doorway" to travel though. Man.. that made it obvious how much our circles aren't really circles and how she consistently falls in on one spot and out on the other. So, while it felt very rudimentary, it was quite helpful. We managed to get some nice trot with great bend. 

Much to Funny's delight, we got to canter. It wasn't glorious but we had a few good steps. And some good down transitions. Liz had me ride her "up" like we were coming to an 8' fence. So I would almost shorten her and lift her. And then once we got that for a step or two, because that's all she can hold, I'd ask for a bit more and we'd get a lovely downward. Cool! 

We also played with sitting trot. It's becoming a tool to help settle her and I'm getting better and better at it and not having to hover as much. Yay!

We finished with a lovely canter. It was great! Then we did a downward to a lovely sitting trot. And then Liz had me ask for more collection til she was basically piaffing! It felt more like a paso fino gait than a piaffe, but... it was fun and made me giggle. Her back had come up and she got so light and fluffy. It was a decent attempt at a piaffe... just at Funny's speed. :) Although, not her usual speed.. she was actually fairly slower in the tempo. Just not... iberian piaffe slow. ;) Then we got to a lovely walk and halt and then gave her big pats and a loose rein. She got sassy and Liz said it was because she was proud of herself and she was celebrating. You go girl!