July 16, 2014 Update

As this is mostly a training blog, there's not much to report as there is no real training going on. I started walking Gadget under saddle last week and I am working trot into each ride this week.

I will say that I am really trying to focus on keeping my back and hips loose and moving during our rides. I find that when I start working on lateral work (such as the shoulder-in at the walk), I tend to stop moving my hips. I need to find a way to keep my seat following in all movements.

I am also trying to retrain my hand position. I am not good about keeping my thumbs on top, and I also tend to keep too much contact on the left rein. I am making a conscious effort to ride thumbs up, elbows down, and hands even. I am also really trying to stay soft in the contact and make Gadget walk or trot up to it.

So while Gadget is getting better and building fitness slowly, I am going to try to focus on my position. Maybe we will both be improved by the end of this ordeal

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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.

2014 - New Year, New Goals

This past year was a great year for me and Gadget. Although we had our ups and downs, I've learned a lot this year. We made our third level debut, earned our bronze medal in only two shows, improved the flying changes dramatically, and earned Champion for Adult Amateurs at third level in my GMO. For 2014, I have several goals: Keep Gadget's back feeling good. I think I have found a good combo of chiro, shoeing, saddle fit, and vet maintenance to prevent him from getting sore rather than waiting until he's in pain. Hopefully it works this year. Continue improving Third Leve l. Last year was a great intro to third level, but I am finally learning to ride Gadget more uphill, which is improving everything. This year I want to try 3-2 and 3-3. The canter-halfpass is still tough for us, but it's looking better. I am going to work to fix things that are easy points -- halts, turn on the haunches, transitions, and good centerlines. I am going to focus on the quality o...

Kenny Clinic - May 9-10

As usually Kenny's keen eye helps me fine tune my work with Gadget. I rode Gadget a bit more forward than I do with Kristin, but I felt that I kept the activity in the canter an kept him true in my hand. On video, the canter looked great. As usual, I am still holding too much on my left rein, and softening solves nearly every problem. Things to work on: Left Halfpasses -- the quarters trail in both trot and canter halfpasses. Both Kristin and Kenny told me to ride Gadget with slight haunches in to the left. I especially need to do this (or think this) when going into halfpass. Otherwise, I lose the haunches through most of the movement. Very Collected Canter -- I rode 4-1 with Kenny and the circle with the very collected canter strides is tricky for me. I need to think of pushing his haunches in with my outside leg. If I try to get more bend from inside leg, I get a change. Left change - I need to soften leg reins and let him move that direction. (Changes in general need...

Dressage Day by Day

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