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Ride up, soften the hands, and keep going!

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I've been in a bit of a slump since the last show. I had a great clinic with Ryan, but I didn't feel like I was riding my best or getting the best work out of Gadget. Ryan remarked that the flying changes are looking better, which was good to hear. I sometimes forget that it wasn't very long ago that Gadget would crow hop, get very crooked, or generally bounce around to change. Now, he gives me fairly quiet changes when I ask. They are sometimes a few strides later than I would like, and the left change is sometimes late behind. However, they are overall getting much better.

This week I looked back at my videos from May and realized that I need to be riding Gadget more up and asking him to carry himself. With that in mind, I started my ride on Friday with a really long warm-up focusing on keeping him up and getting him forward and reactive to the leg. I also focused on not holding the left rein and generally asking with soft, squeeze and release half halts. This made such a difference! I think sometimes in an effort to have quiet hands, I forget to give afte the half halt. Worse, I sometimes use my whole arm when a simply squeeze of the fingers would suffice. This ride was in the snaffle.

I need to remember to RIDE UP and USE SOFTENING HALF HALTS.

Soon I need to determine which tests to ride at NODA. I will ride Third level test 1 each day, but I need to pick a second test. Third level test 3 seems out of reach. The left canter halfpass is still a challenge, and I can't practice in the dressage ring due to the rain. Right now I am still considering riding third level test 2, but second level test 3 might be a safer bet.

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