Liz lesson. Rode Lyric first because fashion show afterwards.
walk in beginning was great but then started to get more animated once we thought about working vs just talking and leisurely plodding, so went to trot quickly. Took a bit to settle but figured it out. Used counter bend.... hold... inside bend... hold... not see sawing,..... slow methodical softening. leg yielding a little. got her quite nice... had to make sure to let go of the inside rein.. but also had to use it to finesse. outside rein creates round though and works. lift my hands. don't drop them. wide hands... give her room.
picked back up and she was feisty so instead of fighting her, I let her canter but insisted it was a nice working canter. and she was good. managed a few circles of lovely canter before she decided it was easier to trot and that's partly because we spiraled in and made the circle smaller. Not to punish.
got some really nice trots and canters after. Like... liz kept saying "ten"! stayed nice and soft and round, but took quite the finagling. Not just riding her face... but riding her body. Shoulder in, haunches in, half pass, leg yield... keep her thinking. I ride better when it's a bit more complicated.
ran through the test. Immediately she got hot and bouncy and rearing in place. liz blamed lightning... i tried not to blame myself but probably me. first run through was horrible. horrible!! So then we talked it rhought and decided to try riding it like a second level test... like haunches in down the sides, shoulder in on the long sides, shoulder in on the circle, think of half passing in on the circles, etc. make it harder for her. and it was much better.
plan my turns and transitions better. the figure 8 at the trot is two touching circles, not an infinity symbol. bend, bend, straight, straight, new bend, new bend. talked about halt because it was awful today. tap dancing. like... she didn't walk off, but she would stand still.. then lift one hoof ever so slightly in place and tap it. Seriously funny?? That feels personal! But liz said no.. just so much energy she is having to dance. like the kid that needs a fidget spinner thing. okay... not sure we can fix it before the show. But tried to walk a few steps in and out of it to help. Tried to halt from the hind end. tried to soften the reins just a bit when we do halt and then not pick back up til after she walks off. all helpful. but not likely to fix it in time. Don't drill it because it pisses her off. Randomly just halt from a few steps of walk (or more) and exhale and praise her. Scratch her shoulder. do the shoulder scratch in my salute too. And just... let it go. Yes, I"m losing "easy" points, but it's not easy for us and while it's two sets of points.. let it go and make up for it elsewhere... fighting it won't get me better scores in those two places and will likely decrease my scores elsewhere.
good pony. Kind of. ;) Ha ha. Seriously.. she was trying but she is fit and was ready to go! And grace stayed int he car because it was misting on and off. Funny was staring hard into the back of the car, willing her to come out.
fashion show after... found both jog outfits and decided on all three show outfits... will likely do the same breeches and coat for stadium and dressage, but it's just so pretty. And the awards/ribbon photos will be in stadium clothes, so... might as well do the taupe coat for that too. And then the pretty taupe and baby pink sparkle pad. :) liz is loaning me a stock tie and maybe a pair of breeches too. :)
Good girl! Then we let her say hi to grace and she was happy.
photos: 11-26 liz lesson
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