amandal
5th Mar 2007, 08:58 AM
Had another lesson yesterday with my fantabulous RI.
We warmed up in walk and trot, got a nice walk almost immediately, trot was very short and choppy to start, so we did lots of lateral work, a few leg yields and some shoulder in. She wasn't moving very smoothly and kept throwing herself onto her forehand so we moved on to shoulder ins in walk and trot and then in canter. I had thought, in my schooling, that I was getting shoulder in but it would appear that I wasn't, that I was just bending her, after getting some lovely work in walk I could definitely feel the difference.
Working in walk and trot first, we were getting shoulder in around the corners, down the longside around the other end of the school, then coming out of the far corner, changing the rein with extended walk or extended trot, half halting to get back to a collected pace and taking shoulder in on the other rein and repeating. This exercise gave my big eureka moment - I managed to sit to her trot :D . It might not have been pretty all the time and how do I know that ? - well RI shouting that I needed to a) decide if I was doing sitting or rising trot :o and b) telling me that I needed to actually sit on my rear. Finally I got it and managed to absorb the movement, Ziz lifted her back up, achieved self carriage and we pranced around the school looking and feeling like dressage divas :D :p . I was grinning like the proverbial Cheshire Cat and my RI's comment - hey she looks like a dressage horse, like one of my Andalusians - think that was a compliment ;) .
We then moved onto shoulder ins in canter, which after a few go's I did get, odd how scary it feels I kept worrying about her tripping over her hind legs, but the shoulder in down the longside and along the bottom, followed by trotting to change the rein and then picking up canter at the top end, shoulder in'ing around the top and down the next longside had me all over the place, sort of the riding equivalent of fingers and thumbs. I couldn't manage to keep her in canter, mainly because she kept flinging her head down, taking my torso with her (I am working on my core strength) and taking off - this was at the end of the lesson and I think her hind legs had had enough, the school surface isn't the best and we'd been working intensely for about 3/4 of an hour by then. We managed to get shoulder in down each long side and that, coupled with the amazing shoulder ins in trot and me managing to sit and the one long side with her back not hollowed and her working properly made up for the frustration of not being able to do the exercise in canter.
So have lots to practise but have taken away big grinny feeling inside after the sitting trot work - this is the first time I've managed to work in sitting trot successfully :o and boy what a wonderful trot she gave me eventually. Now I know what it should feel like, can't wait til I ride again. :D
We warmed up in walk and trot, got a nice walk almost immediately, trot was very short and choppy to start, so we did lots of lateral work, a few leg yields and some shoulder in. She wasn't moving very smoothly and kept throwing herself onto her forehand so we moved on to shoulder ins in walk and trot and then in canter. I had thought, in my schooling, that I was getting shoulder in but it would appear that I wasn't, that I was just bending her, after getting some lovely work in walk I could definitely feel the difference.
Working in walk and trot first, we were getting shoulder in around the corners, down the longside around the other end of the school, then coming out of the far corner, changing the rein with extended walk or extended trot, half halting to get back to a collected pace and taking shoulder in on the other rein and repeating. This exercise gave my big eureka moment - I managed to sit to her trot :D . It might not have been pretty all the time and how do I know that ? - well RI shouting that I needed to a) decide if I was doing sitting or rising trot :o and b) telling me that I needed to actually sit on my rear. Finally I got it and managed to absorb the movement, Ziz lifted her back up, achieved self carriage and we pranced around the school looking and feeling like dressage divas :D :p . I was grinning like the proverbial Cheshire Cat and my RI's comment - hey she looks like a dressage horse, like one of my Andalusians - think that was a compliment ;) .
We then moved onto shoulder ins in canter, which after a few go's I did get, odd how scary it feels I kept worrying about her tripping over her hind legs, but the shoulder in down the longside and along the bottom, followed by trotting to change the rein and then picking up canter at the top end, shoulder in'ing around the top and down the next longside had me all over the place, sort of the riding equivalent of fingers and thumbs. I couldn't manage to keep her in canter, mainly because she kept flinging her head down, taking my torso with her (I am working on my core strength) and taking off - this was at the end of the lesson and I think her hind legs had had enough, the school surface isn't the best and we'd been working intensely for about 3/4 of an hour by then. We managed to get shoulder in down each long side and that, coupled with the amazing shoulder ins in trot and me managing to sit and the one long side with her back not hollowed and her working properly made up for the frustration of not being able to do the exercise in canter.
So have lots to practise but have taken away big grinny feeling inside after the sitting trot work - this is the first time I've managed to work in sitting trot successfully :o and boy what a wonderful trot she gave me eventually. Now I know what it should feel like, can't wait til I ride again. :D