a good lesson, once I figured it all out...

Radar was a tad backed off in my warm-up, I was pulling him back into the contact instead of pushing him into it like I worked on last lesson. Once I worked that out the ride was really good. I'm getting a lot better about not trying to learn into the circle and remembering where he wants to slow down and fall inward. Good free walk work, too, as long as I remember that the long diagonal doesn't end at B! Radar is pretty easy to push in the free walk without worrying too much about him getting too fast and breaking so I'm less worried about that than the other stuff.

Sending in my entry for the test clinic this week!

Pushing, not pulling...

So yesterday's lesson focused a lot on the idea of visualizing my hands and contact as pushing Radar forward into my hands instead of pulling him back to establish contact. With him you can really feel this, unlike on lighter horses, so I immediately understood what feel I wanted to achieve. Once again, the idea of moving my shoulders and torso a few degrees forward also really helped me and changed the entire position of my lower body for the better. It still amazes me that I have to work on sitting back a bit after I spent so much time after riding hunt seat learning to not perch and lean back! Rode most (actually, I think all) of the elements of Intro B and definitely feel very prepared. Still have to string them all together for the full test, but that will come in the next few weeks.

A great ride

Radar was so good in my lesson today, really forward and uphill all lesson. I don't know where this extra (good) energy came from, but I liked it! At the trot we worked on maintaining a nice "arc" where he was uphill and forward but not strung out and fast. Mia also had me working on not getting my shoulders behind the vertical, and visualizing my heels and lower legs going slightly upwards - however weird/incorrect that sounds - and that really helped me engage my core. Did a few run-throughs of most of test B, I got some decent free walks and worked more on circles (note to self: don't let the second half of the circle become smaller than the first half!) and diagonals (it's better to go error on the side of hitting the rail before the letter than being sucked towards the end of the arena).

a hack & a lesson...

I had a good ride on my own last Friday. I kind of needed to de-stress, so I put Radar in what Mia calls his "furry exercise machine" mode and did a bunch of exercises for myself--really working on getting my legs long and stable and doing a bit of sitting trot work.

Today in my lesson we again worked on walk/trot transitions--unfortunately for us (since they are a weak spot) they're a big part of Intro level tests. So after we (re)installed the go-or-pay-for-not-going mentality, we worked on center lines (managed to turn too early, turn too late and get a few perfect turns over the course of the ride), diagonals and circles. Working on letting Radar walk out a bit on the diagonals without getting crooked is challenging, those free walk diagonals are going to be the bane of my existence for a while. The trot work, although not perfect, is easier to organize.