Okay... okay.... I think I've got it! My brain is my worst enemy sometimes. Like I've said... I'm definitely not the best/most skilled/even fairly talented of riders, but dang if I don't give it my all!
So... we had another lesson today. Luckily before the rain hit! But it was chilly! We warmed up with the mirrors! And Dang!!! Our walk half passes are amazing. :) Hee hee... We did some trotting and basically... I've just got to be more persistent that he stay round and not let him brace with his underneck anymore. We sort of slacked on that a bit. And sure enough, once he lets' go there, he starts getting quite buoyant! Tracking left is the hardest because he wants to tip his nose to the outside. And... I almost have to overbend him to get him straight, but then I feel like he's just breaking at the withers instead of truly bending...which, in part, he is. Because that right side is hard for him to stretch. So.. we just keep at it and I make the effort to get it correct, but also understand that he is trying. So we got some nice work. And I just have to remember that he can up his game and I need to keep him held to that standard. :)
So then we moved onto the canter. She did say that our transitions, both up and down, had gotten better! They still weren't were they needed to be, but.. better. :) hee hee. Fair enough. She's absolutely right. So we got our canter and then she asked us to go over two cavaletti's she had set one stride apart. So to start off, I picked up the canter on the left lead and couldn't figure out how to get over the cavaletti's. She was like... "um.... go the other direction". Duh!!! So we started on the right lead... cantered across the diagonal and landed on the left lead. Mostly. Yay!! The trick was to have right bend, which created suppleness and a soft back. Then as we crossed the diagonal and started towards the cavaletti's, I changed the bend, and... viola! That side is easy! So we got it most every time and then she moved the caveletti's and we went the other way. This is where the hamster's started flying off the wheel! I can get Dan to supple to the right.... and then supple left. I can get Dan to supple left. But I apparently cannot get Dan to supple left and then supple right in one swoop. He kept bracing and locking and then we kept not getting the change. And sadly, the first few times were way better.. but then I started to TRY to get the change and made it way worse. We tried a few things... So... first... I have NEVER fully understood the proper aids for canter. I feel like some people tell me to lift my inside hip, some tell me to use my inside leg, some tell me to use my outside leg. And I don't even know what I do anymore. So then the aids to swap are confusing because I don't even know the aids to get the canter. Except I do. Stop... breathe.... shhhhhh.... Pick up the canter. Okay, what did I just do? Oh.... For the left lead, I sat slightly left, closed my left/inside leg, put my outside/right leg slightly back, and lifted my inside/left seat bone. But simultaneously almost and subtly. And we got the left lead (Go us, by the way because that used to be super hard and we'd often get the right lead!). So, okay.. then I canter on the left lead... get inside bend with a soft supple neck and back... come across the diagonal and... per Rana, then get right bend, close my new outside leg slightly back, and keep my new inside leg at the girth, but keep a steady connection in my new outside rein. So I go from inside leg to outside rein, to outside leg to outside rein. Huh?! I was so confused. And then more hamsters started flying off wheels... left and right. And Dan was confused. And I made things worse. And then I thought... okay, let me just try something... So I leg yielded to the right off my left leg coming into the turn, then immediately bent him right, and tried leg yielding him to the left off my right leg... Nope..that didn't really work either. But wait??? I thought it did in my jump lesson? Ugh... so then I abandoned that thought and went back to trying to swap my leg aids. And then I was jumping up his neck... so ... Rana said... to really sit... keep my core.. keep the canter collected and I MUST keep his neck soft. Every time we failed, he was braced. Ugh. But he's so hard to flip the bend that quick that way. So I tried again, and we got it. But then we lost it. So... we finally got it twice in three tries so we quit with that. But then my brain was overwhelmed so I asked for clarification on the leg yielding thing because I knew I would try ti again at home on my own... and wasn't sure it would be to my benefit if I didn't understand it. So....we talked. And she basically said I had flipped it backwards. So... Start on the left lead... bend him left... push him into the right rein with my left leg. Even leg yield him in the corner if I want. Then as we approach the cavaletti... don't leg yield left... leg yield right still! That takes my right leg and brings it slightly back, which is asking him for the change, but because I've got the bend to the right... it's not a true leg yield... and not really a half pass.. So yes, that puts my new outside/left leg on him, and keeps the new outside rein/left rein, and opens my new inside/right leg, thus asking for the change. And... even now, my brain is thinking... "wait... what?? Is that right?". So maybe my theory is wrong, or I've butchered the thought process behind it (along with everything else I try to explain in life..... sigh), but... it worked. I bent him right and leg yielded him to the right and we got the right lead on landing. :) So we quit with that. Poor Dan. But not really.. he had fun and was all fired up and proud. :)
Right to Left: Soft back with right bend and soft neck, approach cavaletti and change bend to the left but keeping back soft, staying strong in my core, and at take off, right leg slightly back, left leg at girth, keep contact in right rein and change. :)
Left to Right: Soft back with left bend and soft neck, approach cavaletti and change bend to the right, and hopefully keep the back soft and underneck soft, leg yield to the right/put left leg slightly back, contact in the left rein, and change. :) In theory. ;
So.. yeah... gonna try that tomorrow and then hopefully have a good trail ride. Although to get the cavaletti in the arena, I may have to ride at home. We'll see. Poor Dan. But then he'll have off til Tuesday and maybe we'll jump again then to give him a break. (Although I suppose this maybe counts as jumping?? ;) Ha ha!).
He's a goober. But I love him!
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