Dudes... dressage is hard!!! Today we rode at home because we had a fun day with Mike. We went to Pistons and Paws, a fundraiser for the humane society and an old car show. Except it wasn't today. It's next weekend. Ha ha. But Mike and I still had a nice morning in Madison and sat in the park and ate our donuts. Then we finished the bathroom and put the hangers and tp holder up and organized. Then we got lunch. And then he took a nap while I cleaned all my tack, including my boots from stadium in Kentucky which had finally dried out. So then I rode. I had drug the arena yesterday and there were deer footprints. Hee hee. Dressage deer?!
Anyways, we warmed up and then went to work. We worked on our transitions and bend. Dan was much more bent to the right when I made sure that my hips were actually bending to the right too. I think I sit shifted to the left so much that I'm blocking him. That may be why he struggles going into the left rein as the outside rein. He always seems to be slung onto the right shoulder, but.. perhaps that cause my hips are telling him to do that! Or maybe it's my shoulders because of my hips??? Who knows? But when I made sure my inside seat bone and hip were back and my outside seat bone and hip were more forward, it seemed to make him go more correctly. So yay! We played with that. And dang, it's hard for me to pay attention to that. I also worked on keeping my leg long and hanging. It very much wanted to creep up and back today. But I did manage to get it long and drapey at the trot when I paid attention. It's definitely harder at the canter but it was better, I think. We also worked on the half pass again. And by golly, especially if I focus on my seat, I think it's coming along! I think we finally might be getting it!!! We also worked on transitions because... it was my fault in Kentucky! He's picked up both leads incorrectly today and I think it's cause I'm not being consistent in my aids with my seat, legs and body. So not only did we work on me finessing my aids, but we also worked on him staying soft and correct within the transitions. We did walk to trot to canter to trot to walk to canter to walk, etc. We finished with the canter 10 meter circles on a straight line alternating leads. It's a little tougher with the jumps in the way, but... we had fun. Oh, well, then we finished with a lengthening down centerline and then a good normal halt. :) His final halt was square and straight!!! Yay!
He's poofed up with his winter coat coming in so he was quite sweaty. We took a quick walk to the lake after to help him cool down. The neighbors had their sprinklers on which necessitated a little bit of a stop and stare and hesitate but he went after a little bit. We even had a neighbor stop and tell us how pretty he was. :) Yes, yes he is!
So yay! I'm excited to see how our lesson goes Tuesday. I'm hoping to show Rana my half pass before we start working on it so she can tell me how far off I am before he gets all rattled and my brain gets confused and flustered.
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