Keystone

Lesson with Kathy

Liberty games for connection and responsiveness, Groom, dwell, riding warmup, dwell, lesson with Kathy, sponge/treat at the end.

Lesson:

lots of change of direction at the trot--I am thinking about too many things for precise patterns.
Today: lots of 1/2 halts to help Try maintain position--abs then elbows.
Try picks up impulsion going uphill and rounds up when we turn the corner and we can use that.
Try using her HQ/coming up 70% instead of 40% with moments of 80% brilliance.
Canter--we are able to begin learning to canter with contact.

I want to review change of rein steps for next time as I wasn't as clear in my mind as last lesson.

Try is happy, offering things and trusting my leadership more

From Kathy:
"I'm placing a bit more responsibility on EP to feel, assess and react if needed as she rides. I corrected position, but made her focus more on feeling Try. Try was excellent, she gets it! LMAO We focused on rebalancing Try before & after change of rein and when riding up & down the grade changes of the field. On an uphill rebalance Try is offering a canter and sustaining it. She is beginning to offer EP a place to sit the canter! AND, she is beginning to allow EP to direct her - this is huge!!! Try's musculature has developed enough to this point that she can begin to offer EP a place to sit. I can HEAR the change in her gait/stride at the trot and canter, it is so cool."

Me: My primarily motivation is learning how to help Try (and possibly other horses) develop physically so she can be as healthy as possible. This is complicated by the fact that we have both been learned tho Try is farther along than I am. What works is that Kathy is so good at working with Try as LBI so that Try is happy to do this and feels successful. As I learn and my leadership gets better, I can see Try trusting me more and more. I am very pleased--thank you Kathy.

Saturday--Threw away the plan.

Always be prepared to throw out the plan! I went to the barn to just play and do whatever Try wanted. She was in raging season and having trouble and, instead of my plan, needed to just have help focusing mentally so she could relax and feel better. We started up the road and back then went to the ring that was too muddy and wet for anything but small/slow stuff so went to her pasture to tear loose a bit and then reviewed dressage learning for next lesson.

Wednesday Keystone

We are reaching the end of our time together. Keystone seems to be going downhill quickly with multiple issues. Hoping for some better days than today.

Tuesday Lesson with Kathy

Fabulous Day with Try

From Kathy--post to Dan Thompson:

"Wow! Elizabeth and Try had a huge break through Tuesday. Try offered, several times, the most amazing trot with suspension she ever had. I had an Aha! moment. One of the things they have had trouble with is maintaining consistent contact through changes in rein.

So my Aha moment was to use the sideways circle game aka walking turn on forehand. I've run into folks who have trouble envisioning the TOFH at the walk, envisioning the turn like spokes on a wheel, the sideways circle game uses YOU as the wheel hub. I had EP use a barrel as the hub and kept Try's HQ coming around to create the spokes of the wheel. It built energy, really suppled the topline and engaged the HQ.

Try came off the exercise "straight" absolutely on the aides and between EP's seat, leg and hands. Try oozed through the changes of rein so effortlessly and correct. Elizabeth was amazed at the feeling of Try just flowing through her aides and through the changes of rein.

It was only a few weeks ago that I reintroduced the concept of straightness and balance and began to re-explain how steady tempo & rhythm was based on self carriage. When Try, like most horses, lose their rhythm it is because they are chasing their balance & falling onto the FH. So many folks think it is that the horse is being "bad", they don't feel where the horse is under them. We've been using small rebalancing half halts. Try was a star!"

My Note: AND Try was majorly in season!

My notes:

1. Sidepassing the barrel as homework

2. Loved HQ on change of direction/rein

3. For me by myself--staying with it is key

4. backing in sync not just FQ/HQ

5. outside leg to go forward and balance

6. maintain contact in outside rein

7. keep reins from slipping and Try going too low

8. rein length to motivate Try to seek the answer

9. my shoulder in turn--rather than looking too far out.

Monday

Keystone: nearly two hours, groom, circle, bathe, graze

Try: said "pick me"--super conscious of me the entire time. Sorry girl.

Try's mounting block savvy!

Sunday--beautiful weather: groom, bareback ride syncing the trot, turns and serpentine from turning the torso, then long bucket filling grazing up and down the drive.

Super cute: asking Try to pick me up for mounting on her right side--she walked away a few steps, turned and came back and lined up perfectly presenting her left side--the "correct" side for mounting. Who ever said horses were dumb!

Saturday - Watched Spring Break Dressage Show

Williamston AgCenter: watched dressage show with Lisa and enjoyed seeing the progression of learning and wowed by how much there is that can be learned. Saw one perfectly gorgeous mover--amazing athlete--just beautiful.

Also checked out spaces at the AgCenter for June 8 weekend.

Thursday - Keystone

Lovely ride with such a sweet horse: walk/trot/canter, no stirrups, HQ engagement, bending and shaping in turns and downward transitions.

Shoulders

Lesson with Kathy

I asked Kathy for help with changing leg cue habits of 

1. lifting heel back to cue

2. pushing with the leg when a lighter cue is more appropriate

I asked for help and clarification in replacing them with weighting the stirrup.

Kathy helped me break this down. We started with a smallish figure 8 at a walk. Half halt from my abs to cue something is coming, focus, weight the stirrup. Before long we were doing a bigger figure 8 and circles at a trot. This is the easier direction for me as I use the same leg to bend on the circle as stirrup I am weighting.

Drifting diagonally off a straight line or the rail--weight the stirrup in the direction I am going and shape or push with the other leg.

Next we took this to 1/2 circles on and off the rail. It took awhile for ME to get this--not Try as I was thinking of a different shape. What finally worked really well was for me to cue by turning my shoulders which automatically weights the stirrup.

(__

_)

(__

_)