I got to the barn just in time for my lesson this week because it was 15 minutes earlier than normal (I knew it was 15 minutes earlier than normal and still didn't leave enough time). I stopped by the ring, said hi to L and checked to see what was on the agenda and found out that we were doing ground poles!
I've done up to three in lessons before and never raised but Katai has been doing so well that L started us with four raised and then quickly added two more. At first we just focused on maintaining bend through the line and making sure that I could keep her at the same tempo. After a few great circles in each direction L had me do an exercise where I trotted over the poles on a 20 meter circle and then immediately asked for a canter. Sometimes I would do a couple of circles at a canter going around the poles and then L would have me do a circle where I would trot over the poles, canter almost back to the poles and then back to a trot over the poles again.
It was an awesome lesson because I had a great way to not micromanage her and just deal with the big stuff and let the exercise do all the work. It certainly was a great workout for both of us and we ended after a great canter transition.
I stuck around for awhile after my lesson and cleaned Katai's leather halter. It was nasty, there were gunk stalagmites on it that took a lot of scrubbing to clean off. While I was cleaning that I watched L ride one of her training horses, a beautiful Selle Fancais that was an upper level hunter now turning dressage horse. She went to do the poles with this horse and it was funny how confused she was. It was like she was trying to figure out if it was supposed to be a long spread or a very tight bounce. After eyeing it up a few times though she went over it really nicely.
Finally I got to see some of P's lesson. She's recently started riding with L and has been making so much progress! Her horse is, I believe, a Saddlebred and is reluctant to stretch forward and down towards the contact but they've been making great progress. It was fun to see her ride again since it's been awhile since I saw one of her lessons.
It was great to be able to spend most of the day at the barn and I'm looking forward to seeing my pony again tomorrow!
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