More Bend: Lesson Recap 4/25

No new media so you get some classic dressage photos

I had a GREAT lesson yesterday. It was really cool to hear Jane feels we're ready for more and that she was really putting more pressure on me to really get more, more trot, more bend, more straight etc. Just doing this stuff isn't enough anymore, now she wants us to do it better :)

The main themes were getting Katai more forward and more bent and round. We started at the walk and Jane wouldn't let us trot until we nailed the transition. Then we worked on serpentines and really focused on getting Katai more in front of my leg with bigger, more forward strides but needed to really nail the bend The. Whole. Time.

and I think keeping the bend with both legs is hard

It was so tough!

After we got that Jane had me do a spiral in and out on a 20 meter circle at the trot and really focus on maintaining the bend. Katai is so quick and wiggly that it's easy for me to lose the bend at multiple points around the circle and that's not really doing anything for either of us. She told me not to let Katai "evict" my inside leg and that it needed to find home (bend) and stay there even if the pressure of "there" varied.

We did a bit of lateral work and I got the alignment on the leg yields better but this time we were also really focusing on maintaining the roundness so that she needed to use her back appropriately.

Then we worked on the canter. Since this was Katai's third day in a row she was a little tired and sore so the canter didn't have as much oomf as it has. She was extremely willing though which was really nice. We did some shoulder in, across the diagonal and then picked up the canter. I only got the wrong lead once and that was completely my fault for not preparing her correctly. We also did some shallow serpentine counter canter work but since she was tired we only got a couple in each direction before she ran out of gas.

Finally after one last walk break we worked on some haunches in. It took a couple of times but we finally got a couple of really good ones in each direction with the proper bend, coming through her rib cage. After that we did a couple of lengthening across the diagonal and because of the looseness she'd gained through the shoulder it was pretty fancy. I was so proud of both of us!

We also talked a little about the show at the end of May and the plan right now is for me to do Intro C and a Training level test. I'm really excited to try this again and to be even thinking about doing Training at our first show of the year. I also can't wait to get a redo on intro C and hopefully score above 35% lol.

June Goals Recap

Update to current goals:

1. Proper bend to the left – I’ve been chipping away at this all month and it’s actually getting better. At the very least she isn’t as surprised when I ask for the bend through the jaw now so she get less defensive. However, either through focus on this side or possibly saddle fit(?) she’s now struggling more with proper bend to the right

2. Stretchy Trot – I’ve been working on this a lot this month. I’m getting better at getting her stretching out but she’s still struggling with her balance a little. Once we’ve gone back into work I haven’t focused on this as much and I think with a little loss of strength she was struggling more with this last week when I worked on it.

3. Canter Transitions – These are getting way better! I’ve had a few great transitions to the right (her tougher side) but her transitions to the left are consistently  WAY better. This is a total win for my new goal setting format

4. Lateral Work – This is getting so much better!! I’ve been doing a lot of shoulder in and nose to the wall leg yield along the wall and she’s really getting it. Her balance has been getting better and she’s getting a bit better at working through and not getting tight through her back. We’re still having some rushing but that’s been getting progressively better.

5. Cavaletti Exercise – I haven’t done this one again but plan to pull it out again in the near future

I haven’t quite decided how I’m going to transition from previous goal to new goals but I think that what I’m going to do is kick anything off the list that’s going well. My goal is to get these items at a good point and then at least maintain but shift my focus to other areas. Then if for some reason I’m having trouble maintaining progress on something I’ll put it back on the list.

 New Goals:  

1. Proper bend to each direction - I honestly think this is something we should have better by this point. I’m sure if I were a more advanced rider that this would be more consistent than we have it right now. I’m going to just keep working and improving my skills at this.

 2. Work outside - I just need to get her outside as much as I can and for as many different activities as possible

 3. Do chiropractor prescribed stretches before every ride (also getting a massage book so that I can do some of this myself :)