Daniel was a hoot today! We had a lesson and it was fairly chilly and windy! Although luckily the sun came out which helped a LOT! We got to Rana's and there was another girl riding and her two kids were playing in the puddles. The mom told the kids to stay over there and behave in case Dan got scared but I told them he was probably going to be fine. And the kids were throwing traffic cones and dirt into the puddle... but Dan was fine. It didn't phase him. So then I got on and was riding around the outdoor and they were splashing in the puddle in the arena then. She said she would remove "the circus". Hee hee. I laughed and told her I was pretty sure Dan wanted to go play with them as he was trying to drag me over to them. :) hee hee.
Then we got to work and Rana's dog was doing zoomies outside of the arena. Hee hee. He was having a blast! Dan didn't really mind. He was actually being quite sane and calm considering he hadn't been ridden since Wed and it was super brisk out and some commotion. He was, however, a little more distracted and less focused, but... he settled. I told Rana that I thought that our canter had improved in many ways, as did our transitions into and out of the canter. However, there was still plenty of issues and most importantly, I had lost the ability to get him into my right rein tracking to the left. We could get it at moments... and even hold it briefly, but I felt like we had lost the consistency we had sort of developed with that. So... we started off and she said that she saw what I meant. He was twisting. So... she told me to go back to the turn on the forehand and to use that to fix it. He had to understand that he needs to soften while standing up on that shoulder. The piece I was missing was the inside rein. I was actually throwing it away in an effort to get the outside rein contact and that was allowing him to twist. So... when I had a bit more contact with the inside rein.. it worked! He had a lovely turn on the forehand and stayed even in the ears and soft and upright. So then we took it to the trot. And.. it works there too. HA! Shocking. ;) We actually got a really nice trot, but I had to have a fair amount of connection in the left rein too and even almost lift my left hand. Which was hard, because... I had been lifting my right hand. Cause you know... why wouldn't I do the exact opposite of what I needed?! ;) So... open the left rein, keep my thumb up, and my elbow bent, and... keep the connection and... we got a lovely lovely trot!!! He felt almost too bent, but... when I looked down his neck was between his shoulder blades and his ears were even! TRUE BEND Y"ALL!!!! Whooo hooo.
So then we went to the canter and it took a bit to get the correct lead when we first started. Thanks Dan.. thanks for making me look bad after I bragged on us. :) Ha ha. But then he stopped fishtailing everywhere and we got it squared away. She reminded me to really stress the bending to keep him from inverting in the transitions. So... we got some better transitions. The downs are getting there but he still has to add that extra bit of flair. It's like.. he can't just breathe down into the transition.. he has to flounce into it. Like the gymast that sticks the landing and throws her hands up and snaps her chin. Hee hee. And I can't get mad at him, because I really think he's like "Hellsyeah... nailed it!". :) I'm hoping over time, he'll soften into it and not be quite so dramatic. But at least now he's not falling into it and staying lighter on his feet, even with his dramatics. So then we moved on to serpentines with simple changes. At first, I was losing the downward because I was trying to keep him from splatting but then I got some trot steps. And, because I was anxious about the upward, I was not exaggerating the inside bend. So, once I got the hang of asking for inside bend in the downward, get the downward, then change bend, get the bend, then ask for the upward.. it got better. Progress.... making progress! So then we got some pretty decent ones and we upped the difficulty. :) Rana put out a two cavaletti's and asked me to ask for the change of lead over them. Basically... she just wanted me to canter to it... then dramatically change the bend and my position just before take off so that he landed on the correct lead. She said that in the beginning, we were being glaringly obvious so that he understood, but the goal was to eventually minimize the aids so it was lovely. :) And... part of me aknowledges that it's literally just him landing on the correct lead.... something 4 year old hunters do... but.. it's also super exciting because it means we're starting on our flying changes!!! And.. it actually went way better than I expected! Yes, of course, he's happier to land on the right lead and the left lead is harder, but... he got them both repeatedly. Granted, we also landed on the counter canter... sometimes the cross canter... but still. We got it right repeatedly!!! And Dan had a blast! I really think he loves "games" like that. He got all excited and proud of himself. :) I just had to coordinate my aids and think ahead enough and he got it. So... yay!!!
Our homework is the serpentine with simple changes and focusing on the quality of the transition... and then to play with the cavalettis. She also wants me to put some cavaletti's in with him when I lunge him... and poles... so he has to canter over them and learns to not invert while cantering over them.
So yep.. Good day!!!
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