October Ryan Clinic

Last weekend I had another clinic with Ryan, and I rode all three days for the first time. Friday, Gadget felt forward, light and happy. Even Ryan remarked how he was happy in the contact and working well. It was a bit of an ordeal to make it to a 6:45 ride time aftr work, but totally worth it. We did forward and back in the trot, but later moved into a new exercise to get him softer in his back. At the trot or canter, take Gadget deeper and rounder. Half halt him back on the outside rein to try to sit on his haunches, then send him very forward and then half halt back again. This doesn't sound earth-shattering or new, but because Gadget is lower and rounder, it really helps get his back swinging. Ryan said he would use this exercise about 3/4 through the ride when Gadget starts to get a bit stuck. Here's a clip of this exercise from the end of our ride:

Saturday was a cold, wet day and neither Gadget and I put in our best performances. I don't have any video of the ride, but Gadget felt behind the leg most of the ride. We worked on forward and back for most of the ride.

On Sunday, Gadget was a bit sticky again, but we worked through it and got some nice work. I have made improvements in not clamping on the left rein, but I now need to steady and improve the contact on the right rein. I also need to go back to getting Gadget more reactive off of the leg. He is beginning to collect while maintaining a nice canter rhythm, but I need to kick him up to the right rein when tracking left. Here are a couple clips from my ride on Sunday:

A bit of shoulder-in, haunches-in, and halfpass in trot:

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When old becomes new - update to my old Pikeur Diana!

Here is the finished product! It was a plain black jacket so I added white and light blue trim with RHINESTONES! It's very sparkly! Here's a closeup of the collar, which looks better than the pocket. Now I am going to try to add coordinating trim (minus the rhinestones) to the saddle pad.

July 2013 Ryan Yap Clinic

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Third Level Test 1 - with comments from Judge Natalie Lamping

Here is a practice test of third level test 1 that I rode on April 27, 2013. I then submitted the test for an online evaluation by Judge Natalie Lamping at horseshow.com. I was pleasantly surprised to get a 63.2% (which may be a bit generous in the spirit of a schooling show) from Judge Lamping. This test was before my "breakthrough" of collecting the canter the next weekend. She correctly notes that the canter still needs a good bit of work. However, our turn on haunches have improved dramatically from that year, which is great since they are a coefficient score! My right flying change received a 7, and if I can line up the left one to be clean, it is an even better change. See my scores and comments from Natalie Lamping below: Apr 27th, 2013 April Dressage Festival 2011 USEF Level 3 Dressage - Test 1 Judged by Natalie Lamping Featuring Lindsey S Score: 241/380 (63.29%) 2nd place Overall Rows Test Rows # Tests Score Coef Err Comments 1 A ...

Dressage Day by Day

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