Hee hee. No wonder my pony is fit! We did another hour long canter lesson. ;) But he did get the last two days off after the show. Hee hee. And quite frankly, he's been fit his whole life.
Anyways... we decided to work on the haunches in at the canter again. And it's me. It's all me! My darn body doesn't cooperate like it's supposed to. Which, is good, in ways. It means that Dan is telling on me and doing exactly what my body is asking him to do. And in theory, that means when I correctly ask for a change, I should get it. But for now.. it's a struggle. ;)
Anyways...we started on the left lead, which in theory, is the hard lead. I'd get a nice canter and as soon as I'd ask his haunches to come in, usually by my right leg, he'd break to the trot. So, we decided that it's because he was getting straight in the neck. When he gets straight in the neck, he braces, and when he braces, his back and hind end stop moving. So, we worked on getting more bend. He has to stay in the connection, which means I have to keep my elbows by my side. He has to stay connected to the outside/right rein and then I can use my inside rein for bend. Even if it means opening my inside rein to my knee. And I must keep my thumbs up. No turning them down and in. So, when I do this... I can actually get and keep the bend and if I just move my seat like I want a haunches in, he does it. So we got a few steps a few times and I thought I had the hang of it, so we wanted a breather and I asked to go the other way. Ugh.. the other way was worse! Ha ha!
Same thing though. He has to stay in my outside rein and my elbow has to stay at my side. He has to be round and bent. Almost too bent! Which is why, my brain keeps throwing the outside rein away... thinking he needs to be able to stretch his neck. NO DING DONG!!! The bend comes from the barrel, not the neck. And he's matured enough and ready to be able to bend within the rein limits I set. So hold the outside connection and then also ride outside leg to inside rein to keep him bent. And avoid getting him with my inside/right spur! When I do that, he (rightfully) gets mad and hoppy and then he braces and then he swaps in front and we lose all semblance of anything good. So we finally managed it a bit. We also talked about attempting to half pass as I was collapsing in my right shoulder and whole right side. I even dropped my stirrup on the right. I had to think of standing in my right stirrup to keep my leg long... and then, I realized that when I was asking him to halfpass.. I was blocking him with my right leg. So... he has to bend around my right seatbone... not my right leg. My outside rein has to stay connected and half halt him to keep him round. My inside leg must keep bend or he can't do anything, and then I had to ride with my right leg long, my upper thighs on, but nothing else. I had to keep my right leg off him so that he could go to the right. And for 2 or 3 glorious strides, it all came together! He looked like Valegro in the mirrors... reaching with a big shoulder lift, going sideways in the correct bend! It was awesome! And then my blasted right leg wanted to keep the energy so it snuck up and spurred him, which made him brace, and then it all stopped. Sigh. But we managed to get a few more steps a few times, so we quit.
That's hard work for all of us! But I think I'm getting it. I was able to see in the mirror that I have to keep him in the bridle with the outside rein connection.. keep him bent with the inside rein connection, move him lateral with my outside leg and weight aids, as well as my inside seat bone, and allowing the lateral movement with my inside leg off. Oh, and keep my thumbs up, my shoulders even, and my spurs out of his sides. Phew!
But... progress was made. Baby steps, but... steps!
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