Learning Lessons

Nancy & I had our first lesson since he 16th of Feb today. It was ropey at best due to miserable weather on Sunday meaning no turn out for the horses yesterday. Leading to Nancy being wiggly and full of beans.
Before I go any further with my recap i wish to apologise in advance for the haphazardous & random shape this rambling post will invariably take as i try to remember what was said to me during the lesson. *blush*

First I rode Kika; I really wished focused on our walk / trot transitions and bending. However in true Kika fashion she was having none of it and every whistle of wind or noise from the stables attached to the arena we were in was a great excuse in her book for nonsense. We had good mixed with bad, every time I felt her relax and go with the flow of the movements she'd find something else to distract her pea-brain with. While rather frustrating in the moment the fact neither one of us allowed the other goad us into full meltdown was a testament to how far we've come this winter. To be honest the work that was good was really rather good, even if it was few and far between those are the glimmers of progression and hope that keep me plugging away when I can.

She is such a cutie! I love that her dapples are coming through

Nancy & my lesson was rather later than I had thought it was going to be. It was pushed back from 11h30 to 14h & the trainer was running a little late and we actually started closer to 14h30. As i mentioned above Nancy was wiggly & windy for her. She is usually my steady eddie and was still a lot less squiggly than Kika is but she was still far from her usual relaxed demeanour. The trainer S had me help her focus by circling her on small volts (10m circles) & semi-volts  (using half a 10m circle to change rein/bend).

Somebody got a haircut

S suggested introducing shoulder in work at the walk, particularly on the right rein as Nancy is inclined to swing her backside into the ring and S wants me to channel that power more towards the outside and help her learn to balance with her head more inside the arena. S has also said that helping her learn this skill will also help her learn that inside leg on does not mean shift up a gear. This is new fancy dancing to my amateur riding ability so we will have to chip away and work at this till we get it right at the walk before we move up to trot and/or canter eventually.

Someone wasn't overly enthused about our mirror selfie post spin

When she settled in walk we worked on the trot, S had me really focus on my hands and inside leg. Namely keep my inside leg on to stop her falling in on our circles and in the corners - we have a lot of work to do on her balance and i really have to ride our corners. I also really have to watch my hands, my outside hand HAS to stay quiet & constant. The inside hand has to be more active yet giving, she has to learn to balance herself without leaning on me and I have to help her get there.

Canter work was interesting at first, S actually had me let her canter and blow off some steam before we tried to work the canter as she was still full of beans with the wind & missing turnout. I had mentioned our recent issues with canter departs leading to bucking, flailing & dolphining. She didn't display these antics in our departs today and her canter was commended as being nicely balanced and improved since our last lesson.

"Oh selfies you say...we'll in that case I can pose" - Nancy

When we changed rein we had to do a few walk/trot transitions and some changes of rein to stop her pre-empting the canter transition. When we got her brain back she again gave us some lovely canter work with S reminding me to sit up straighter and not let N use her muscly neck against me.

"My turn tomorrow" - Kika

S complimented the work I'd done on my heels - although I don't think it is my improvement so much as the new stirrups working with me rather than against me. We'll have to see what is said tomorrow when Kika & I have our lesson in the GP saddle with flexi-stirrups.