Rhythm: Lesson Recap 6/18

My favorite view :)

First, as I was typing in the title to this I realized that we're nearly half way through the year. Where has it gone?!? It seems like just yesterday that it was December.

Anyway, back to the lesson recap. My lesson yesterday (which was rescheduled from last Tuesday because of the heat) was amazing! It was another one where all the hard work we've been doing paid off.

To start off we were unsure what Katai's mood would be like since apparently she'd been horrid for Jane that morning. Because of that we started off with an extended warmup with a few laps of the ring at the trot in either direction (after lots of walk) and then circles before we added in serpentines. It paid off and Katai's stride length was great and I was able to keep her really pushing from behind for the most part.

For this lesson Jane was talking about getting and keeping her "soft at the poll" rather than talking specifically about round or bend and it really helped me. I can feel when she get's tight but sometimes I don't do anything about it because everything else is going well. This lesson, by focusing on that feeling rather than some of the pieces that come from it I was able to keep her much softer and more through over her back. We even had some really nice transitions!

I think the tough thing is that I know it's leg before hand and that I need to always push her forward into the contact. The problem is that being a greenie myself when it comes to dressage means that sometimes I'm trying to do that when Katai is so tight through the poll that it doesn't do anything productive and that's when she starts to rush. Being tight through the poll is something that is so normal for Katai that I almost always need to get her to give first and then push her forward with MANY reminders to give along the way. It's not that I can't do that, it's that I didn't always know I was supposed to since to me that's hand/rein first and then pushing forward and that's certainly not what the books/clinicians/experts tell you. At least not in the black and white way that I was thinking about it :)

Next we worked on shoulder in again. It's been awhile since we tackled this (shows and back to basics) so I was pretty rusty. However, the skills I've gained in the meantime were extremely helpful and with some coaching from Jane I was able to much more effectively control the rhythm and be more correct with my rein aids. Well, at least to the right. To the left it was a hot mess that only got slightly better before we quit but we did identify some of what I was doing wrong which means that I know what to work on.

Hanging out with the Vegetable in the backyard
enjoying our now beautiful weather :)

Finally we went to canter. To the right Katai did fairly well and had a decently slow rhythm with long strides (this was her tougher side a month ago) but she was struggling to the left. In that direction it was all quick footfalls and rushing. She even got bolty on me once, then broke, and when I asked for canter again all I could get was a trot. Jane got really quiet and I thought I'd really messed up (typically she doesn't get quiet) but once we took a walk break (after I finally got some canter) we talked and apparently it was an AMAZING trot. Jane said that she couldn't believe that Katai could produce that with her tiny body and now if we could only get half that trot for her lengthenings :) At least we know it's in there somewhere!

It was great timing since one of my goals is to continue to practice the shoulder in (and other lateral work) and now I have more things to work on. It was also encouraging that Jane was really happy with my position (overall) and how effective I was with my seat. It wasn't that long ago that I would have been unable to control Katai's rhythm at the trot or canter and this lesson it felt easier and Jane said it looked much better and that she was happy with it. High praise coming from Jane!

Strength: Lesson Recap 1/31 + Ride Recap 2/4

Old picture but I figured some media was needed

To preface this I have a couple of posts that I was going to split up but I've got a bunch more posts I want to get up including a February Goals post so I decided to just combine these. Sorry if it gets long!

Lesson Recap:

Earlier this month I ended up with a sore back. I'm not sure why, I hadn't lifted anything heavy or done anything that hurt so all I can imagine is that it happened when I was sick. I'm guessing that I either pulled something when I was sneezing explosively throughout the time I was sick or that laying on the very unsupportive couch for three days did something to me. It's weird in that it seems to vary day to day how bad it hurts and that it's behind my ribs on the right side rather than my lower back. Right now on the worst day a couple of Advil kill any soreness so I haven't felt the need to get it checked out but if it continues I will.

For whatever reason on the day of my lesson it was the worst that it's been. I'd been popping Advil all day but hadn't got the timing right so when I showed up for my lesson I was pretty sore. I went to pick up my saddle and had to freeze and just breath for a moment. I was trying to decide if a lunge lesson made more sense but I decided to just let Jane know and see if we could arrange my lesson a bit differently. Because of that we stuck to walk and trot and focused on lateral work instead.

We started with walk warm up to a nice trot warm up. Katai was moving well so we didn't need to focus too long on getting her loosened up. Instead we went to lateral work pretty quickly and started with leg yields at the trot. They were really working for me (for whatever reason) at my lesson and so after a few in each direction we switched to doing shoulder in at the walk. 

At first I wasn't doing enough to keep her flexed the correct way but after some coaching for Jane about catching her quicker without pulling I was able to get a couple of successful tries in each direction. Then Jane had me switch to doing haunches in for the first time! We did it at the walk and Katai very naturally just understood so after doing it a couple of times in each direction we went to the trot.

At the trot Jane had me do a new exercise where I would start the shoulder in the way we have been with a 10 meter circle in the corner but then at the center of the long side I would do another 10 meter circle and as I came back towards the wall I would start haunches in and do that to the short side. Other than some very slight fussiness about what I was asking for Katai was brilliant and really thinking and listening instead of just reacting. 

After we had the just of it Jane had me do it again and this time she actively coached me to actually ride and keep the bend and flexion and lower/forward/reaching feeling with the bit instead of just letting Katai fling her head in the air. Wouldn't you know it, with her reminders I was able to very successfully RIDE it correctly.

I'm a very visual person so this sort of thing is so helpful!

Both Jane and I were so happy with that as well as being cognizant of my poor back that we ended at that point and did lots of praising of my amazing pony :)

Ride Recap:

I've been playing around with my riding schedule a bit and trying to find something that works for both me and Katai. When I had Sunday lessons I gave her Monday off and then either Thursday or Friday (or sometimes both haha) and that worked really well. I've been struggling with Tuesday lessons because Mondays off work really well for me but not well for Katai and that sort of throws off my whole schedule. This past week I tried riding Saturday-Wednesday and then giving Katai Thursday and Friday off. 

Because of that my ride today fell after two days off for Katai and so I guessed she'd be full of energy. Oh boy, was I right.

It was interesting because when I was walking her around in the arena she seemed about the same as she normally is (ie. walking around quickly and sometimes with her head in the air) and normally even if she's a bit amped on the ground she goes right to work once I mount up. Today though my adrenaline started amping up right away which is unusual and I couldn't figure out why. Now I think I was picking something up from her. 

I mounted up and she was certainly tense and threatening to rear but never did. She's often better if I go straight to trot which I did and had a gorgeous trot. She was in full suspension bridge mode and on her toes but stretching down in to the contact, if a bit light in the contact, and forward. She wasn't relaxed but she was mostly listening to my leg and other than ensuring she didn't come above the contact I was just focusing on riding her forward and letting her dispel some energy.

Often when she's like this I'll let her decide to canter out of a forward trot and just go with it. Usually she'll canter for awhile, snort a bunch and then when I ask for trot again she's feeling better about life and we continue in a more relaxed and productive way. So when she made the executive decision to canter I went with it. However, a couple seconds in I was having to do a  lot more riding than normal and she was alternating head flinging with bolty steps and some slight leaping. I was just concentrating on keeping her forward when suddenly in the center of the arena she bolted straight up. The only thing I really remember was seeing her withers directly in front of me, that's how bad she bronc-ed up into the air. When she came down I yell/growled at her and asked for forward but she was so frozen up that she didn't move and I could tell she was prepared for battle so I did the wise thing and got off and lunged. 

She could have taught this horse a thing or two today of course I stayed on
This may be an option as a second career path when I get tired of HR ;)

I needed to go retrieve my lunge line, pull the reins off the bridle, and pull off the stirrups since I knew there would be acrobatics (spoiler I was right). When we got back to the arena I pretty much immediately made her go to canter and oh my gosh was she full of herself. Katai has NEVER been one for bucking, kicking, bronc-ing, or bolting on the lunge so I'm used to climbing off a crazy horse and then having a quiet lunge session and being done.

She was kicking out at her tail, bucking because there was a dark spot in the arena, bolting because she had boots on her back legs (like EVERY time I've ever worked her for the past three years) and frankly just being a bit of an ass. Honestly she didn't get in any trouble she just needed to stay forward and out on the line and basically listen to which gait I wanted. I didn't punish her for the antics because it was so clear to me that she just had excess energy and that's my fault. After all we're trying to create a stronger pony so it's not her fault that she is now stronger and has more energy and then after a break needed to express some of it.

After a few "quiet" canter circles on the lunge I did a few transitions and when she was listening we switched directions. She was mostly good the other way other than acting goosed a couple of times when I asked for a transition. Same thing to this side, lots of canter and eventually some transitions and we ended with a few circles at the walk.

Katai's innocent face

Normally I would have been done but I knew I was feeling a little squigged out about the canter transitions (I used to have major canter anxiety issues before Katai fixed them :) so instead I got her put back together (reins, stirrups, and all) and then mounted back up. We started at the walk but she was still slightly tense so before she got to make an issue of it I went into trot. Almost immediately she remembered that she was very tired pony and just went nicely forward, stretching, and also did lots of snorting. She was also more receptive to my cues to bend her and I wasn't have to RIDE as much as I had before. Before I let it drag out too long I cued for canter in her harder direction and other than a slight head toss she did it and was very rideable in canter. In fact she felt so loose and forward, and had such a nice open stride that I'd say it was some of our best canter to date. Again, I didn't wait too long before I brought her back to trot and after a loop to change directions cued for canter in the other way. This time (easier side) she didn't even toss her head just went straight into it and again I had the nicest canter I've had.

I was so proud of both of us that even with a very challenging and scary start we ended in a good place. Adrenaline and having scary moments usually really brings out my frustration so I was especially proud of how I handled this the whole time and that my thought process remained that it was my fault for not working her consistently and was focused on helping her be my partner again rather than getting angry at her for "doing something wrong". After all we're trying to be stubborn together ;)

Boot Camp: Lesson Recap 12/31

Yep, I celebrated the end of 2016 with a good, tough lesson with Jane. It had been a couple of weeks since I'd had a lesson and my rides have been pretty inconsistent (timing wise, Katai has been really consistent and I've had great rides just not as many of them as I'd like) so I knew we were going to get a workout but mainly we are just at a point where we can both be pushed more which is so exciting!

Since I haven't posted many details about my rides in the past month I just want to post a quick recap of what we've been doing. That is, doing more work on lateral movements, specifically leg yield and shoulder in. My leg yield is starting to get more consistent now that I'm starting to be able to use my outside rein and both legs (so, so, so hard for me!). We've also been doing a LOT more canter than we had been. Jane was pushing way more canter than I was used to and when we talked she basically told me that at second level since there is about as much canter work as trot work I should be trying to do that with my rides as well. SO COOL TO HEAR!! I think I just about squealed like a kid :)

At this lesson we started off getting the trot to a good place. Academically I know that I'm working towards a pushing, active hind leg and that if that's right everything else will fall into place (at least at this point in our training) but I struggle sometimes to really get there. I can instantly feel when it's correct but between correct and when Katai's faking it a bit I struggle to catch the change. I eventually get it when I'm riding by myself but only multiple 20 meter circles later which isn't helpful. It's so helpful to have Jane right there telling me when it's good or not but I'm still a long way from being able to feel it instantly.

Katai was stiff and wasn't moving as well as she had been since she's spent a lot of time standing around. Both because I wasn't able to get to the barn and ride as much as I wanted and because it's icy out so she isn't moving around as much as she normally would in turnout. We ended up spending about 30 minutes getting her moving better and really focusing on my bending. I was also really struggling with my right hand, really really struggling. Jane made me come back to walk and I spent awhile on the struggle bus trying to figure out the feel of what she was looking for.

The problem is that when I'm going to the left everything works, then I go to the right and everything falls apart. I completely blame my right hand but my left isn't much better.  I seem to only be able to move my left arm side to side and my right arm straight forward and back. I also struggle to take a good feel on the right rein so Katai is used to the contact being really light on that side. That means that when I'm going to the right I've got my left arm pointing at the wall (when she's trying to fall in which I'm causing haha) and my right is in my lap. I'm not getting her bent properly because I'm not giving her the ability to take the bit forward on the outside and my right arm isn't supporting her on the inside either. Then I fall to the inside hop bone, a lot, and she falls in more to pivot around that "turning point", ie. we're a bit of a disaster and Jane is very patient.

Of course that's not going to be fixed in one lesson so Jane put us back together to the point where we could continue and I've got my homework.

Then we started working on shoulder in!! Jane had told me to practice it when she saw me before my next ride so I knew she was going to bring it up in the lesson. This was actually much smoother than it has been, maybe because Jane had me using both reins a bit more correctly ;), and after we had a couple good tries on either side we took a walk break and then worked on leg yields.

I'm still struggling a bit with the timing of the aids on these but this lesson was the first where I feel like I had a couple of decent tries in each direction. I actually felt like I rode more evenly to both sides and was able to get the timing of the forward and sideways aids a bit better.

Then we went to canter and Katai felt pretty darn good. She's actually starting to develop a little bit of jump to her canter which wasn't there at all before. She's also starting to be capable of holding the canter a little longer which means we get to have more fun with it. We're working on doing 20 meter circles at different points in the arena as well as riding the full sides of the arena but this lesson we also added leg yields in on the 20 meter circles while allowing her to trot when it felt to difficult. At that point we'd leg yield out and ask for the canter again. Katai did really well, I struggled to sit straight up but after a conversation with Jane at the end on the biomechanics I think I get it and know what to do differently next time.

In all the lesson went for about an hour and we took up the full thing with riding and not just "easy" stuff so Katai was fairly sweaty. It was the first time that we made it through the full hour since normally I don't have enough horse to make it that long or we only get there because we do a lot of talking or walking around while Jane explains something to me. I was really proud of both of us and how much progress we've made but even better, it's great to have more new homework!

Sorry for no media! Hopefully next time :)

A Kick in The Pants

Winter is always tough on my motivation. The seasonal change is the worst but the depression and headaches that always gives me seems to be over this year which is amazing. The winter is just tough because of the dark and cold.

At my previous barn it wasn't so bad since it was kept much warmer, closer to 50-60* so as soon as I got to the barn I was comfy and could wear just a light jacket. This barn is much chillier and probably kept closer to 32* just so it doesn't freeze. Certainly not complaining but as a huge freeze baby I have to admit that it's been tougher to make myself go to the barn this year.

Especially when we have weeks like this in early December

I've still been to the barn 3-4 days a week but I'm still aiming for 5 so that's a big difference. However on Tuesday H was able to make it to my lesson and it was an interesting evening that somehow left me feeling more motivated.

To start this off I want to preface by saying that I love H. She's been a friend since I was in my teens and she's really a good person. I really enjoy spending time with her especially since both of us are into dressage ponies so we have a lot to talk about. The thing is though, that she brings out all of my insecurities. That's not her fault but mine for letting who she is get into my head. 

H is really a triple threat, she's gorgeous, petit, a beautiful rider, and (the toughest for me to deal with) she rides at an absolutely amazing barn with an absolutely amazing instructor where she regularly gets the opportunity to bop around on a 4 year old Gold Premium filly, a schoolmaster(ish) level horse, and ride with clinicians like Janet Foy.

It's not the fact that I feel insecure around her because I really don't and we both have our own strengths. It's more that I'm jealous of her opportunities. Even as a kid she had a well trained pony, good instruction, and a trailer when I had a green broke and naughty horse that had only been on trail rides, no good instruction, and no trailer so no way to show or take lessons since there weren't any trainers nearby that had lesson horses. Every time I'm around her it's tough for me not to wish I had had the same opportunities in the past and that I could have the same opportunities now since I still don't have a trailer or a trainer who regularly shows throughout our region.

Don't get me wrong. At this point I would never trade and lesson with her instructor (who's a well known dressage judge) instead of Jane. He is amazing but I am at exactly the right place for me and Katai right now and  I wouldn't move even if I could. It's just tough every time I see or hear about her scribing and/or showing at large rated dressage shows and talking about all of the quirky show things or partying with our regions top riders after the show.

This time was especially difficult on me because her instructor, who's also a well respected breeder (as you can tell since he has a 4 year old Gold Premium filly that I believe he produced), has recently purchased no fewer than SIX GRPs. Two are older (3 and 6 I believe), four of them are just babies, and H will have the chance to play with, help break, train, and ride all of those gorgeous ponies. 

One of them in particular hurts because she's a Golden State baby (from the same barn/lines(?) as Forest Nymph) who I was drooling over for weeks before I heard she went to H's trainer. Of course I'm glad she's in such a good home and excited to meet her at some point but it still stings a bit. The fact that H was talking about all the ways that her trainer thinks this pony might be lacking for upper level dressage (obviously extremely nit-picky things since he has a Gold Premium baby) made it sting more especially since I have an amazing but free pony, with no specific breeding, no traceable bloodlines, and not even close to "fancy" movement. Insecurities talking again of course since I CERTAINLY wouldn't trade Katai even if the pony were offered to me tomorrow for free. Katai is amazing, she's my girl and my partner and she's really what I want.

Galaxie from Pics Of You Videos on Vimeo.

In the end, after already feeling like H had been a bit condescending about my ride during my lesson (those damn insecurities talking again) I had an emotional drive home. I was completely aware of how silly I'm being. I mean talk about a bunch of first world problems! I have a pony I adore, a trainer I love, and a barn that felt like home the moment I walked through the door and here I'm disappointed that I'm not at a show barn and don't have a 5 figure GRP. Even I know it's funny, it's the fact that H has all of that and she's about 6 years younger than me that leaves me feeling like all the air got knocked out of me.

I processed the whole way home coming up with all of the above conclusions and finally, about 10 minutes from home realized that action is the best thing. Instead of feeling jealous or less motivated I need to just get my butt to the barn, work extremely hard and make opportunities for myself. I need to stop allowing myself to run out of motivation and go to the barn 3-4 days a week and just go and ride my pony! I need to start working out again so that I have the strength to give her a good ride (I died a bit at my lesson on Tuesday which didn't help), and I need to make getting a trailer this year a priority. This isn't about saving up and getting a fancy pony for me (even though I want(ed) Galaxy so badly that it hurts), it's really about wanting more opportunities. Not to win, but at least to get out there and show and to continue to climb up the levels and that's something I just need to work for.

Contact: Lesson Recap 9/27

Yesterday I was REALLY dragging all day. I was so tired that I felt like I couldn’t keep my eyes open and my head hurt all day. I made it through work, barely, and left about an hour early. I used my extra time at home to make some good food and make sure I just sat and rested for a little while and then I headed to the barn for my lesson.

I struggled to stay awake on the drive there but once there as soon as I started moving I felt better. Because of traffic I was running a little late so I tacked Katai up fairly quickly. As I was getting her ready both Jane and I noticed that she was being quite sassy. There was a lot of ear pinning, ugly faces, and she even nipped at me when I went to tighten her girth for probably the first time ever. I’m going to consider treatment for ulcers but also I’m sure it’s her time of the month. She was touchy about her lower back and was so, so, stiff that she turned around without bending her body at all, like a 2x4.

Poor mare! I really like Jane’s take on this though and that is that riding can be the best therapy if you take the horse’s needs into account and ride them correctly. Instead of saying poor baby and leaving her in her stall to be stiff, we headed to the arena to help her get moving correctly and feeling better.

We started off focusing on a nice relaxed, regular walk rhythm while doing 5-6 loop serpentines up and down the arena. Jane wanted me to really focus on the bend and think of my inside arm like a piston that I draw straight back to keep/get/enforce the bend to the inside. After a few of these going both ways in the arena we moved into a trot around the full arena. With big circles focusing on almost overbending her at each end and in the middle.

She started off very choppy and stiff but as she worked out of it we started to do some leg yields down the center line. I’m still a little ways away from really getting these but I’m so much closer than I ever have been and was very nearly there towards the end yesterday. As usual, as soon as I figure out my body and stop doing wonky things Katai is actually able to use herself and do these correctly. Jane is having me focus on keeping her straight and wants me to think about almost having her haunches lead. She also wants me to stop flailing getting ahead of the motion.

After that we took a brief walk break and then went to canter. For some reason our transitions are good but Katai’s canter has fallen off the rails a bit. Not sure if it’s #hormonalmareproblems or if it’s one of those things were it’s going to get worse before it gets better but at the very least it’s a change and that’s always interesting/encouraging. She’s having trouble maintaining her canter in both directions and it’s really flat but she’s transitioning into it well, that is when she doesn’t get extremely tight and tie herself in knots like she was tonight. I’m going to start working her at the canter in side reins to see if it helps her to figure it out without me up there also flailing trying to figure out where to sit.

Jane said something really interesting to me though. Basically that I have very light sensitive contact, which she likes, but that sometimes I need to have more contact to get her to the right place and then immediately lighten. That makes perfect sense, and I’d like to think that I’m aware of that, but what I realized as we were talking is that I’m actually, finally RIDING the trot right now. Very actively, keeping/putting her where she needs to be and making quick effect corrections to get her to a good place as needed and then being soft and steady. However, I am NOT doing that at walk or canter. In both gaits because of her fussiness Katai has turned me into a passenger who tries to just be quiet and not upset anything so that she doesn’t freak out. It’s not effective, it’s not helping, and I need to just RIDE both gaits like I am at the trot.

Something to think about/work on during my next few rides anyway!

Bounce: Lesson Recap 9/20

After my ride with Katai on Friday last week I started feeling more positive because everything Jane was telling me to do was so clearly working that I just kind of let go of my need to try to figure this all out and was able to convince myself to just sort of go with the flow. Because of that I was relaxed and feeling really positive on Tuesday which isn't normal for me since I normally have a good amount of lesson anxiety.


We started off working on my position. I've always had a really tough time keeping my leg back and my conformation hasn't been helping me. We spent around 10 or so minutes at a halt with Jane putting my body where it needed to be and then explaining to me where I should have tension and where I shouldn't we talked a bit about some stretches and exercises that I could do.

Then we went to walk and after a bit of walk in each directly, mainly working on me, we went to trot. This lesson was pretty much more of the same as my last lesson with some additional specifics and just focusing on giving me more time to get things right. I'm still really struggling with getting my body turned enough to the right. I feel like I'm turning all the way around but Jane says that I'm still barely turning. Plus, my right hand has always been better at releasing than holding and I'm having a tough time keeping an appropriate amount of contact when I turn her in that direction.

Playing with running water in the tank is better than Netflix

Katai REALLY likes the new rider that I'm turning into. She's moving SOO well through her back, I've got good connection on both reins and I'm starting to have proper bend about 90% of the time. Because of her amazing new relaxation she's moving so, so well. It's so fun to ride her and feel her so traveling so through, it's a good step up from what I've ever felt from her before.

Then we went to canter. Jane is such an amazing calming influence on me. I'm not that nervous about cantering but Katai is such a little firecracker and add the fact that I want to do a good job in front of my new instructor and it makes me tense up which certainly isn't good for actually getting a good trot/canter transition. One of my friends always refers to her instructor as "her Yoda" and I feel the same way with Jane. Initially there were some fireworks and Jane was working on describing to me how to sit differently. We had talked about how I push my right leg out in front of myself in the canter so we worked on that first and then went the other way. Jane was trying to get me to sit differently and I kept trying different things and then I got it!

She wanted me to stop moving my torso as much and allow myself to feel like I was bouncing straight up and down. As soon as I got it I felt it and Katai's canter slowed down, she re-balanced herself, and it just felt magical and amazingly controllable. I felt sort of like I was sitting on a yoga ball (her hindquarters) and there was this light unweighted yoga ball in front of me that I could have steered anywhere. It was the most amazing riding moment that I think I've had.

Jane got all excited and we quit there. Now I just need to try to replicate that during my rides this week!

Generous: Lesson Recap 9/5

Gotta make sure that the other horses haven't forgotten about their princess

So if you're confused about why I'm writing a lesson recap post about a lesson on Labor Day when its a holiday and I mentioned that I'm taking lessons on Tuesdays I was pretty surprised as well. People who knew Jane mentioned that she likes to give feedback when you're riding and that the extra advice is nice but that's pretty common. I'm used to instructors stopping by if I'm riding and giving some suggestions and moving on. I figured this would be the same.

However, today while I was grooming Katai Jane showed up and I was incredibly impressed when she came to me, told me that she'd been thinking about some of the things I'd mentioned about Katai and she had a couple of ideas. First, the fact that she trusted my opinion about my horse and didn't just think "oh this girl doesn't know anything about dressage, I'll just see what they actually need to work on in our lesson" meant a lot. The fact that she'd been spending time making a plan and then talked it through with me meant even more.

We chatted about both Katai's reluctance to give to aids and not just be extremely resistant and then about her weight. I think that Jane thought that I would be offended that she thinks that Katai is heavier than she should be but I was just very thankful and happy that she sees it as well. She wants Katai to lose 50 pounds or so and I'm completely on the same page. We agreed that it's both diet and exercise so I've got an additional reason to be motivated to ride/work her at least 5 days per week.

Then she followed me to the arena. I figured she'd stick around for a few minutes and then go back to doing barn chores but instead she sat down on the mounting block and proceeded to give me a 30-45 minute lesson. It was so amazing that I actually lost track of the time.

Oh, and Jane really likes the new saddle! Both how it fits Katai and where it puts me
Ignore the saddle pad, I'd put it back too far, it's not the saddle's fault

We're going back to basics for both me and Katai and I'm really, really happy and impressed with how Jane was systematically adjusting and fixing things that I had no idea I was doing wrong. I had a few big light bulb moments when she explained thing including how to actually, properly do a downward transition. It's not that L hadn't, she just explained it the way that you would to someone who already understands the concept but the last time I had an instructor actually teach me how to do a downward transition, back when I first started riding, the explanation was to basically pull on the reins.

My favorite thing that we worked on, besides just identifying a few more things that I'm doing incorrectly with my body, were walk/trot transitions. They've been ugly so I've been avoiding them and just had absolutely no idea how to "fix" them. Jane gave us a good start today!

Basically she wants me to slow everything down, no more pushing Kati forward, just ask her to be in the gait that I'm looking for and then let her figure out her rhythm and speed. We also worked on having leg contact and having Katai just accept it. She told me to feel like that, as well as the contact on the reins is a nice hug. If Katai pulls against my hands I shouldn't let her but as soon as she's soft again I should go back to the hug. It was a good description and meant a lot to have her really get me and Katai and figure out where we struggle with our partnership and to start working on that right away.

I thanked her profusely after and asked if she still wanted to have a lesson tomorrow and she sort of laughed and said of course! She said that all of her students get lots of extra lessons. Still, I couldn't believe that she took all of that extra time, on a holiday to sit and help me. I'm so happy to be here! I'll recap my lesson tomorrow as well although I suspect it will be similar.

BOGO: Lesson Recaps 8/6 and 8/14

Checking to see if flower filler is actually edible

In all the excitement of the Hunter Pace last weekend I completely forgot to do a lesson recap from my lesson on Saturday and that's too bad because it was great!

Last Saturday I had a sleepy, low energy pony. Between just not wanting to push her when she was in a good mood and behaving and knowing that she was going to need to expend a lot of energy the next day we took it easy and mainly focused on me. I had let L know what Jane had worked on with me so we focused on helping me keep my back straighter and on how I used my upper body.

Katai was extremely good and was letting me focus on myself and just bopping around despite me flopping around on her like a sack of potatoes and going through all sorts of weird contortions with my body.

About half way through the lesson L called me over and we started identifying what parts of my body need to go where. My lesson with Jane was extremely helpful because she wouldn't let me put my body wrong even once, L usually doesn't call me on things that consistently BUT, Jane didn't break things down in that lesson and focus on muscles and that was what L did on my lesson. She identified the muscle I needed to use as the muscle right above the Kegel muscle (haha)  when all along I've been tightening muscles too far up in my abdomen.

Seriously lacking media but this is my little car at the barn

She walked me through how tightening those muscles meant that I could still breath (pretty important in doing anything well it turns out) while still using my pelvis correctly and when I got it right it felt amazing! I was actually able to control my body when posting while holding myself in the correct position and once I got it Katai clearly relaxed and was more comfortable through her back.

The whole rest of my lesson L was yelling something along the lines of don't forget to use your Kegel muscles! haha

Then today I was able to pretty much continue where we left off before. We pushed Katai a little more but we also worked more on my position through my arms and elbows and focused on my position at the canter. Between the two of us we identified just how much I've been relying on the wrong parts of my body to center myself in the saddle and as soon as we moved one thing a bunch of other pieces fell apart. Right at the end of the lesson I had about 2 seconds of really correct canter position that was the best I've had.

Now I just have to practice this week as well as I did last week so that I can continue to make progress. I feel like for so long I was so much more advanced than Katai that I was always teaching her things and now I feel like she's further along than I am. The exciting thing is that now our progress feels like it's more reliant on me making changes and that's really empowering!

A Good Riding Horse: Lesson Recap 7/17

I had a great lesson today but it was a little weird. I feel like I haven't had regular lessons in a long time. I missed my past two lessons (L was on vacation one week and I was on vacation the next) so it felt odd to be riding in one today. I've been having some great rides over the past few weeks and L was able to make some great progress with Katai last week so I was looking forward to riding with her and getting more feedback.

We started off with an amazing trot!! L gave me some feedback on a few small things, that I needed to get her neck a little lower and to pause a bit more at the top of my posting, but mostly it felt amazing. After a walk break we went to working on spiral in and out at the trot and throwing in canter transitions.

I need to practice these more again. For awhile I felt like I was really getting them figured out but now I'm back on the struggle bus. Oh well, time to do more practice! Once we were cantering the main feedback I got was that I was pumping too much with my elbows. I think in an attempt to make sure I wasn't grabbing with my left hand I've been too loose which means too much movement and therefore the pumping. I was able to relax my arms and be much more soft and still which immediately meant that Katai softened. Funny how that works ;)

After another walk break we went back to working on the trot and getting and keeping Katai more in front of my leg. L has correctly identified that I tend to let Katai get behind my leg too much. We started working on turning down the centerline and then halting at X (or other letters so that Katai wouldn't get wise) while focusing on getting her to halt from a trot and to halt square. It clearly pointed out that I couldn't keep her in front of my leg at downward transitions.

It also pointed out that while my turns to the right were pretty good, my turns to the left were complete failures and I overshot the center line every time.

Finally, thanks to some great work on L's part during her past training rides, we did some amazing stretchy trot. Katai was really stretching down while still maintaining the same temp. It felt great and floaty and soft. It was really a great and fun lesson but what made it even better was the conversation we had at the beginning.

Golden State

L and I started off talking about the NDPC and she asked if Golden State had been there. Both of us really think he's amazing and L has mentioned that she'd really like one of his babies. I'd really like one too and I mentioned it but also said that while it would be really fun to breed Katai to him, it's just not something I'd do. First I think I'm the last person qualified to breed a horse and second I just don't know enough about Katai's breeding to know what I'd get. I really lucked out with my pony and think that she's amazing, but when it comes to picking out my next horse I'd rather know a bit more about what I'd get.

At that comment the BM (who did a lot of very successful breeding) said that Katai would make an ADORABLE baby. Katai is one of her favorites which is pretty cool since there are many amazing horses that board there and she started talking about how cute that baby could be. Then L chimed in with a couple of suggestions of who she'd breed Katai to and why. It's really flattering that they were talking about it but I know that neither one of them would actually recommend it. However, at that point L mentioned that it's probably good that I wasn't planning on it since she'd lost her own amazing riding horse to a breeding injury. It made me really happy to hear that L thinks that Katai is worth more as a riding horse than in being bred. I can guarantee you that a few of my friends and acquaintances think that it would be better to breed Katai to a talented horse and get something at least a little better rather than to ride her.

I don't put much stock into what those people think since I think Katai is AMAZING but it's really great to hear that my trainer thinks the same thing :)

Knowing When to Push: Lesson Recap 6/26

Yay for lessons again! It had been three weeks out which was honestly just as well since I had been gone and sick and Katai was recovering from her chiro (plus it was really good for my budget) but I’d been missing having that feedback. I was also feeling a little bit of lesson anxiety since I hadn’t made as much progress as I’d wanted to while L was gone and just wasn’t quite sure what we were going to be working on.

For that reason I was really happy when I saw cones set out in the arena. I do really well with clear goals like ground poles or cones provide and I can make myself nitpick a little less which is good for everyone. L had cones set in the middle. Two were set to guide 20 meter circles at either end of the arena and in the middle. At the very center were two cones set the other way to make a 10 meter circle figure eight going the short way across the arena.

The task was to do 20 meter circles at each normal point through the arena and then to do 10 meter circles or 10 meter figure eights at points to help rebalance the pony. Not too surprisingly the beginning of the lesson ended up being more about helping me actually make circles and not odd shapes. I do pretty well through about ¾ of the circle but then I get stuck to the rail and make a 90 degree corner heading away from the rail on the long side. Of course I do that twice on the circle in the middle of the ring. It was tough for me to correct but once I started planning ahead a little more I was starting to make much more even circles and not making Katai do corners all over the place.

Katai was clearly tired and not feeling motivated to be ridden for very long. I’m sure she’s lost some fitness during her vacation (even if a minimal amount) plus it’s gotten hot recently so while our heat index that day wasn’t in the 100s it was still quite hot and that’s very de-motivating for a pony. Especially one that has gained some poundage recently…

I admitted to L that I have a tough time knowing when to push. With Katai it’s such a fine line and she’s such a delicate flower that if you push her much past her comfort zone she starts to fight and not offer anything and then the next few rides I have an extremely defensive pony. If you quit while she’s fresh and don’t push she’s SOO good and generous and offers all kinds of amazing things but of course she never gets any stronger, plus she’ll learn that she can quit when she feels like it.

On Friday I’m confident that I pushed the right amount (basically not at all and yet I called the shots about when we’d end, not her. She was actually surprised that she was done which was my goal.) with how amazing she was. However, it’s tough for me to know when and how long to push on other days especially when she’s continuing to be a rock star. L gave me some great guidance that quitting while I was ahead sometimes is great but that most of the time I should continue about 5-10 minutes past when she wants to quit. That will build strength and yet not push her to the point where she wants to put up a fight at my next ride. This is really helpful for me and I’m going to really focus on doing this so that I can continue to build on Katai’s fitness.

Next Sunday I won’t have a lesson since L is out of town for the 4th and then I’ll be in KY the following weekend for the National Dressage Pony Cup!! L is going to do a training ride that Sunday and then the following week I have off M-F so I’ll have lots of time at the barn. I’m hoping to do some early morning rides and really focus on getting outside!!

Changing it Up: Lesson Recap 1/24 and Saddle Fitting Update

L wasn't feeling well at all for my lesson on Sunday and for some reason I was more distracted and less motivated than usual so it was nice that we worked on a couple of slightly easier things.

We started off with warming her up nicely at the trot and she was actually a little sucked back. That almost never is the case with her but I had done quite a lot of canter the day before so I think she was just slightly tired. With my nice, slow pony who was really listening to me we started out by working on leg yields. 

We are still squarely on the leg yield struggle bus both because she's learning and because I'm proving to be completely incompetent at moving my body properly to get them done. Oh well, I've been working on them more in my schooling rides and they were slightly better in my lesson so after a couple of times in each direction we gave her a break and them moved to working on turns on the forehand.

We've worked on turns on the haunches before but this was the first time we worked on these. Again, once I grasped the concept she did them pretty well, especially for a first time. This is reminding me that I need to do a schooling ride or two where I work on turns on the haunches! Sometimes we work on something in a lesson where L warns me not to drill it and then I promptly forget to do it on my own at all. I've been toying with the idea of a lesson journal for that reason but have hoped that my blog will fill that purpose. Maybe I just need to go back and read them more!

Then we went to the canter. We are both getting better at the transition and she's been picking it up in a stride or two rather than 10 like it was taking before. So nice to have that progress :-) At the canter we worked on doing more straight work down the long sides and it was amazing! I felt like we were flying. She is developing more jump as she develops more strength but keeping the same maneuverability which makes it so much fun. She can turn, properly, on a dime and our 10 meter circles at the canter are easy because she's such an adorable little athlete.

In other news I've calmed down after the saddle fit debacle yesterday but I haven't changed how I feel about how it went. When I'm at the barn tomorrow I'm going to try to get some pictures of the underside to post on here and make sure that I'm not just completely missing something.

I've also been chatting with P, who also had a saddle fit appointment with H yesterday, and it sounds like things went really well for her. I'm going to chalk this up to H trying to fit a small pony, which is probably not as normal for her, and with a saddle that isn't one of the usual brands that she sees. I haven't lost faith in her as a saddle fitter but I'm not sure that I'll use her again in the future. Unfortunately I'm not even sure if I'll have that choice because I don't think I have many options for saddle fitters that will work with my saddle in my area.

The Weeknd: Lesson Recap 12/6

This weekend was amazing for me and my pony. I had, due to some unexpected changes last week, ended up with four rides in a row. I had ridden Thursday for drill team (short ride), Friday (dressage ride), Saturday (supposed to be a trail ride), and Sunday (for my lesson of course).

This whole week we've had unusually warm temperatures and the snow that we ended up had almost all melted. I had been hoping that this would mean that I could safely plan a trail ride on Saturday but I was warned by the BM that the slush and mud was making it slippery out so I went to the outdoor arena instead and was so glad that I did!

The arena had a thin coating of snow but with the warm temps the footing was still good and since pony was full of herself I was looking for any excuse to ask her to canter. She had to wait until I asked but once I did I had her canter pretty much until I could feel her tiring a little. Because of the snowy footing she had a great amount of jump in her canter and so I felt like I had wings.

It was amazing!

I really wish someone had been available to take pictures or video because she had her little pastel quarter sheet on and with the snowy background it would have been so cute.

Then for my lesson on Sunday we rode inside since the footing was getting a little mushy. Katai was a little tired and muscle sore from all her cantering the day before but in true pony fashion decided that trying to run away with me would be her best way to get out of work. Instead she got pushed forward in a canter and had to keep cantering until it was my idea for her to quit. Then, just because she's sassy she decided when we switched directions that it would be a good idea to try that again.

This all occurred during our warm up so by the time that L started our lesson pony was already pretty tuckered out and thought that she really shouldn't have to work. She was behind my leg pretty much the whole ride, until work started getting tough later on and then she decided to start running away again, but it was ok because we spent more time working on me.

The last couple of lessons Katai has been going well enough that we've been working on leg yields on the quarter lines. Today we added canter transitions once we hit the wall to help me figure out how to get my body placed right. We would do the leg yield, one canter circle, back to the trot and then back down the center line to do the whole thing again!

This got her pretty jazzed up so it was back to the races but after her tiring day on Saturday and the amount of canter she did to start we cut her some slack and just ended a little early after one last good transition.

Overall I learned a lot and it was a great lesson. I've been holding with my inside hand and when I'm doing the leg yield especially I grab it rather than releasing it. Great homework for me this week! Katai is really getting broke and I'm able to do so much to influence her direction/speed/bend etc. that it's just fun to ride even if things don't all go perfectly :-)

Reset

This week has been a mixed bag. After last week being so amazing it's a little disappointing but I'm continuing to learn how to improve to make another incredible week possible.

My main issue has been my schedule. Being an adult sucks sometimes and recently I feel like there just isn't enough time in a day. After never having much of a social schedule I suddenly feel like I've got all kinds of events I could participate in and even with being selective I'm running out of time.

Last Sunday after my lesson I had finally decided to take the rest of the day for myself to decompress after my previous busy week. Unfortunately that still meant doing laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning out my car, cleaning my room, doing dishes, cooking dinner, and taking Veggie out for a walk since those were all things I failed at the week before.

On Monday I had my normal day off riding and thanks to my work from the day before I actually spent a quiet weekend, curled up in bed, binge watching How To Get Away With Murder (sooooo good, you should seriously watch it!). It was a wonderful quiet evening and I feel like I need more of those sometimes.

     How I function on my late barn nights

Then on Tuesday I had a date and was proud that I went straight from work, got there on time, did the whole date thing and then got home, took Veggie out and went to the barn. I had a WONDERFUL ride and got to hang out and talk horses with someone that I used to board with at the last barn who also moved because of what was going on there. I got home around 10:00 and pretty much went right to bed.

Wednesday I had my yearly physical, had to leave straight from work again, and had plans to ride but was just too burnt out to make it happen.

   The ladies at the barn found a Fresian weanling blanket that fits her perfectly so she's trying a new look :-)

Thursday I had a normal evening and rode again but between my haphazard schedule and Katai being in raging heat it was a rougher ride than we've been having. I'm proud though because I still got us to a good place by the end of the ride. There was just a lot more tension than there has been and she was being bit fussy.

Now tonight I was planning on riding again but that would have meant that by my lesson on Monday she would have been ridden for 5 days in a row and that's just too much for her right now. Plus I would have had to go to the barn straight from work and then get to a date straight from the barn. Probably better to not show up to a date wearing full seats, tall socks, and tennis shoes and smelling like the barn. Or that could be a good technique to find out if the guy will be tolerant of my horse habit :-)

So that leaves us in the sucky position of every other day rides so far this week which just isn't a good way to do things.

The plan going forward is to ride tomorrow morning and then I have a plans in the afternoon. I should still get some time to myself though which will be great. On Sunday I'm cheering for a friend who's running in a local marathon in the late morning and I'm planning on heading out to the barn to ride in the afternoon sometime. Then I have my lesson on Monday evening!

I'm hoping we can pull it together again by my lesson and am already making plans for how I can improve next week to make sure I get my five rides in. I'm not that disappointed that I only managed four this week since that's still really good especially considering everything going on right now. I just want to make sure that I get back to five before that feels like a stretch because that's how I've ended up at two rides per week in the past.

Lesson Recap

For some reason yesterday I just was not feeling like doing anything other than going home and sitting on the couch and maybe reading a book. Those days are far and few between for me and while very occasionally I don’t feel excited about working with pony, some days it’s nice to just do other things, usually I at least want to do something.

At any rate yesterday was when my lesson was scheduled and with the barn move throwing off my schedule for the next week and a half it was important that I get this lesson in while I could. Plus I’m not someone that is willing to cancel a lesson last minute just because I don’t feel like it. I had talked myself into it by the time I left work and, thanks to Viva Carlos’ last quote, I wasn’t even whining too bad. I got to the barn and luckily the woman who is going to be trailering Katai on Saturday was there so we were able to talk through the plan for that day. I had received a text from my trimmer earlier and apparently we had scheduled a trim for that day (damn you iPhone calendar for not coming through for me!) but were able to get that in before the scheduled move so Katai will have nice short toes for her arrival to the new barn.

 

After that conversation I went out to get Katai and was surprised when she whinnied to me and walked up to me in the pasture. She never runs or moves away but normally she’s not clearly excited to see me. I felt renewed hope that this was going to be a great lesson. However, as I was grooming and tacking up she started to express her displeasure in small ways. She’s usually not naughty anymore during the process but she did a few things that were unlike her such as refusing to take the bit at first and stepping away when I went to put her saddle on. I’m still not exactly sure what was into her unless, like me, she just wasn’t feeling it that day.

 

As I walked into the ring L was showing up and warned me that she was early. I started to go through my normal warm up routine but Katai was clearly tight, tense, and didn’t want to go on the bit or listen to my legs so I started making her work earlier than I normally would. I’m not sure if it was that, the two days off in a row, or something else but once we started to trot and actually got into the lesson she was full of it. She just wanted to run and was allergic to any leg pressure. Finally after hopping up and down in place a few times I got her going forward and we went with it and started with the canter.

 

L let me know once we finally had some semblance of a calm pony that “She is setting the difficulty level and if she wants to do things the hard way and not listen she’s going to have to work and work until you are ready to let her rest.” Because of this we did a lot of canter and trot in a row and waiting awhile to give her a walk break. After that initial blow up though she did come back to good work again fairly quickly. I feel like this is our main improvement over the past few weeks since it used to take at least half an hour to get good work. Now she may still blow up but at least we get to good work after about 10 to 15 minutes.

 

Once we were back to a trot I mentioned to L that she was just not listening to my legs and at even the hint of pressure she was blowing through everything else to run. Since we had her actually going forward L had me do spiral circles at the walk on the bit and be REALLY picky about how she was moving, when, and where and having me put my leg and keep my leg on her so that she couldn’t get away from it. Slowly, after a few circles in each direction, we had a pony that was listening properly to each leg and not overreacting to leg aids so we moved up to a trot. She was still a little fast but she actually was listening to my aids and after I got her slowed down we did more trot spirals and then after some great work on bend to the left, which is her tough side, we went ahead and called it.

 

L mentioned again that she thought we looked really good at the end and that she agreed with me that we were making progress and it was great to get good work 10-15 minutes into the lesson rather than only for the last 10 minutes. She said that I need to focus on doing what she needs when she needs it. If that’s canter right at the beginning that’s what I need to work on, if she’s in front of my leg but not listening to independent leg aids I need to do some slower walk spirals to take the tension out of leg aids etc. L also mentioned that at some point she would like to ride her. I think she was waiting for me to be displeased about it but actually I’m really proud since this is because she wants to be sure we aren’t headed in the wrong direction and that means that she thinks we can actually get places. She’s never mentioned riding her before, probably because it wasn’t worth the risk to herself to ride such a green, naughty, pony who wasn’t showing any real ability. Now that she is L wants to help me make sure that I’m not creating a habit or problem that will haunt us later and that makes me happy.

Unfortunately H wasn't able to make it because she was feeling under the weather so I still don't have anymore new photos or video. Coming soon hopefully!

 

I think my next lesson will be on Tuesday but with the hoof trim on Saturday and the move we’re going to play it by ear and see how she’s doing. Now I just need to make sure that I ride consistently before the move/hooftrim so that we can have a productive lesson!

Pony Power

Last Sunday I went to see H’s lesson with Bill Solyntjes and I have to say he is incredible! I had heard such great things about him in the past and he really is such a calm, positive, knowledgeable expert on dressage that I’m a bit jealous that H has the opportunity to study with him. Her pony, we think he’s probably a Morgan, has amazing suspension at the trot however he was still struggling at the canter but at her lesson on Sunday she had a breakthrough which was amazing to see and I was so glad to be able to celebrate with her :-) I was also able to return the favor she did me last weekend and take a whole bunch of video of her ride.

 

I also got to meet another resident pony at Bill’s barn who is a 14 hand GRP. She is an amazing little character and is trained to I-1. Her owner was understandably so proud of her and we had a great talk about how incredible ponies are and how none of us would ever own anything else. 

 

Here's a video of her http://youtu.be/Znn6P6btRmw

The barn was bustling the entire time I was there with people tacking, untacking, and grooming/working with their horses. Everyone of them rides dressage at various, but mainly upper levels, and I have to admit that I’m a bit jealous about that too. Add to that the fact that H got to audit a Janet Foy clinic and I'm slowly turning green haha. Pretty much the only thing I miss from J’s barn was that there were ALWAYS multiple people riding and all of them rode dressage. It created such a wonderful atmosphere to be able to talk dressage and horses with like minded people as well as being able to look up to them and motivate me to make progress so I could ride that way. Now at my current barn, which I do really love, the majority of the riders are western and while there are 6-7 people there that are pretty serious about dressage my schedule never seems to put me at the barn the same time they’re there. The barn is also spread apart enough that even if there is someone else there I may never see them. Again, I’m not complaining since it is an amazing facility but I have to admit that I’m beginning to wish that I were located on the other side of the twin cities so that I could have the possibility of boarding at the barn H is at since it is such an amazing dressage barn and I'd love to be able to work with such an incredible dressage trainer.

 

As far as my pony goes, this week our weather has turned and we are back to barely getting above 50 degrees. I had to focus on some stuff at my apartment last night so I didn’t get a ride in but now tonight I rode again and Katai was really tense and rushy again. I'm proud to say though that we worked through it together as a team and got to a point where we were getting some decent work. It certainly wasn't the best she's been but it was a huge improvement over the start of the ride. I'm going to try to increase my rides to 4-5 per week and see if I can handle that addition to my schedule because I think it would be a huge benefit to both of us.

I'll leave you with a post bath picture of my pony. I had to document how white she was since it will be awhile before I see her like this again :) 

Go!!

I had my second lesson with L on Sunday and I’m just as impressed. She is wonderful, everything I was looking for in an instructor and it doesn’t hurt that she seems to really like my pony. She’s the calm voice of reason when things are getting a little crazy with my greenie and she’s great at seeing what I’m doing that I need to change and pointing it out without overwhelming me with too much info at once. I think my favorite thing though is that she is catering the lessons to me and Katai and what we need to work on at any given moment and not trying to force us into working on something that “all of her other students are having success with” like J would.

 

We were also multitasking since there was a desensitization clinic going on at the same time. I’m always struck by the different thought process between Dressage riders and trail riders or eventers. The latter just expect that their horses deal with things that could be scary such as tarps, bridges, flags etc. and the former seem to expect that there is no way in hell that their horses could ever handle such a thing. The western riders at the barn had set up a desensitization clinic on the Sunday so while I was riding in my lesson they were playing drums, riding over bridges, and waving flags around. The dressage riders at the barn didn't want to go near the arena. My feeling is that it is ultimately no different than what could be going on at a show so Katai would just have to deal and after a brief freakout when we first walked into the obstacle filled arena she was great! I expected her to behave and keep her mind on the dressage lesson and she did.

 

On Sunday we started where we had left off at our last lesson, getting Katai to not be as quick by slowing my posting. Right away she said it looked way better than last week and mentioned that Katai is very intelligent and is picking up on things quickly. She adjusted a few things I was doing and answered a few of my questions. Then we upped the difficulty and started to work on making sure that Katai wasn’t counterbending. This is why everyone needs an instructor because I had NO idea how counterbent she was. As soon as L started having me make some gentle corrections I could feel the difference in Katai’s entire body. Now I just have to be able to do this without eyes on the ground :-)

 

Next we added a few different patterns at the trot. First we did a 20 meter circle until she was moving correctly and then made a much smaller 10 meter, or so – sometimes I suck at steering – circle in the center of the bigger one. This exercise the pony got but I didn’t and I kept throwing her away when we went out and not supporting her. I eventually got my act together and then we went on to another exercise that L said should look like a YinYang where we changed directions in the middle of a 20 meter circle. This exercise I was better at but it made pony very, very fussy. She didn’t want to have to balance and is still green enough that it feels like I’m trying to drive a semi truck around a 10 foot circle rather than a small maneuverable pony around a 10 meter circle. We were both starting to get this figured out so we gave her a break. I’m always so happy to have new things to work on and I could feel how much better this made her and how she was carrying herself better after so I’m really looking forward to doing this exercise this week!

 

Finally, after a nice long walk break, we went to the canter. We started in her easier direction and again the focus was on not letting her counterbend her way around the 20 meter circle. L also had me work on getting her canter more forward which felt WAY better! This is another time where I was so thankful that I had someone telling me what I needed to work on because I’ve been happy with her slow, poky canter but now I know what a better canter feels like so I can work on it :) Then we switched to go in the opposite direction, Katai's tough side, and all hell broke loose. Of course it was an adorable pony sized hell but still. She was fussy and bouncy and wanted nothing to do with bending in the correct direction. I'm sure it was tough and we were asking her to use muscles that she'd not used before so I have no issue with it but it got a little rough and then suddenly I thought she'd bucked but L yelled "let her have a walk break!" and once I'd gotten her slowed down L told me that she'd just done a clean flying change. 

Think this -> 

Combined with this ->

I was thrilled! Obviously it wasn't correct and we wouldn't want to teach her that now but the fact that her answer to being upset about something wasn't to buck, bolt, or rear but to do a clean flying change made me really happy.

Then we went back to the canter and got her to do the bend correctly on the correct lead and I was even more thrilled :-)

Nice pony lipstick