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.

(__

_)

(__

_)

Calm, connected and partly commited

My goal for the day was to see if I could get the good rhythm, HQ engagement and coming up through topline that I got in the last lesson with Kathy. We did this.

However, for next time I need to consider how commited and responsive Try is AND in my joy at playing music and moving to it that I don't play AT Try rather than WITH Try.

What we did: On the ground liberty Try offered sideways away and we sidepassed the barrels in an L shape. Then we proceeded at liberty to groom and tack up.

We played with syncing at walk, sitting trot and posting trot but Try was really attracted to the gate--I think we need to ride elsewhere part of the time. I think she would like to leave that field some.

The rode out and asked for bending and expanding which was good and serpentine with expanded which got quite good and the aforementioned rhythm, tracking up, HQ engagement--twice.

What I didn't get as the weighting stirrups--I am unclear how to set this up for success to create a new habit for myself--everything happens too fast and I get confused.

Good Friday

Keystone:
Real ride today and he was great: easy walk/trot/canter warmup then played with serpentine expanding Keystone out in the loops, spurs: drop heel/turnout and use spur rather than push leg back toward haunch. This is A-#1 habit to change for me. Also canter: in dressage saddle sitting back with light contact helping him to use HQ. Plan downward transitions to engage HQ. Keystone--offering to come up through topline and use HQ for extended time at the trot through transitions.

Try
Not much time left for her but played on line through some figure 8 and circle variations and Try was happy, relaxed with moderate impulsion.