I am days away from my last show of the season, and I am seriously stressing. Of course, the collected canter occupies most of my worries, but it has been making room for worries about the turn on the haunches and trot lateral work in general.
According to every trainer that has ever seen me ride, I have a rogue left hand. I used to argue that I didn't feel any contact in the left rein, so I NEEDED to take more on that rein. Obviously, I was wrong. I am crooked from hip to shoulder in that I twist too much to the left and collapse that side. Unforunately, my crookedness and rogue left hand have resulted in a crooked and blocked horse. I am slowly breaking this habbit, and the difference in Gadget is noticable. Once I let go of the left, he is softer through his whole body and is able to step through with the hind end. I wish I had figured this out years ago!
With this new-found freedom on the left, Gadget feels a bit more bobbly in the contact. I am trying to figure out how much contact to maintain to give him stability and how much to let go to allow him the self-carriage necessary at this level. This is not the most comforting place to be right before a show.
Thankfully this show is supposed to be fairly low key. It's also in a venue where I am unlikely to run into anyone I know. If I am embarrassed beyond belief, Hani and I can get our Wendy's frosty (my longtime comfort food) and laugh/cry about it on the long ride home without having to endure the awkward coversations with friends who try to politely say "it wasn't that bad."
Even though everything feels a bit wonky right now, I can't help but set goals for the show. My original goal for the show season was to score a 60% at second level. Gadget was a star and got me to scores of 60% at my last show! Now, I want more (so typical). I would like to improve at this show and get at least one score above 60%, and it would be fabulous (although very unlikely) to keep all of my scores in the 60's at this show.
We'll see what happens.
According to every trainer that has ever seen me ride, I have a rogue left hand. I used to argue that I didn't feel any contact in the left rein, so I NEEDED to take more on that rein. Obviously, I was wrong. I am crooked from hip to shoulder in that I twist too much to the left and collapse that side. Unforunately, my crookedness and rogue left hand have resulted in a crooked and blocked horse. I am slowly breaking this habbit, and the difference in Gadget is noticable. Once I let go of the left, he is softer through his whole body and is able to step through with the hind end. I wish I had figured this out years ago!
With this new-found freedom on the left, Gadget feels a bit more bobbly in the contact. I am trying to figure out how much contact to maintain to give him stability and how much to let go to allow him the self-carriage necessary at this level. This is not the most comforting place to be right before a show.
Thankfully this show is supposed to be fairly low key. It's also in a venue where I am unlikely to run into anyone I know. If I am embarrassed beyond belief, Hani and I can get our Wendy's frosty (my longtime comfort food) and laugh/cry about it on the long ride home without having to endure the awkward coversations with friends who try to politely say "it wasn't that bad."
Even though everything feels a bit wonky right now, I can't help but set goals for the show. My original goal for the show season was to score a 60% at second level. Gadget was a star and got me to scores of 60% at my last show! Now, I want more (so typical). I would like to improve at this show and get at least one score above 60%, and it would be fabulous (although very unlikely) to keep all of my scores in the 60's at this show.
We'll see what happens.
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