Dressage Day by Day

So I am back to plodding along in the snaffle bridle trying to figure things out again. I feel like I want to get Gadget a little softer in the bridle and just more honest in the connection. I've been warming up by really separating my aids -- legs mean go, then half-halt means balance. I am really focusing on keeping my head back "in the headrest," maintaining pointy elbows, carrying my hands, legs at the girth, and giving the squeezing half halt and the release. The basics take so much thought to do well.  This week I really could feel how important it is for me to have the squeeze in the thighs in the collected canter. After he is warmed up, I can put pressure in my thighs (like squeezing toothpaste out of the tube) and get him actually powering from behind in the smaller canter. When I ride from the thighs, he is quieter and happier in the contact. If I try to kick him up to it, be bounces all over the place in the contact. I think this is because my seat is b...

Part 3 of 3 of my husbandless and horsey-filled weekends included a dressage symposium on September 6-7. After my awesome clinic the previous weekend, I recreated the collected canter on Tuesday and probably asked for more than I should have from Gadget. On Thursday he felt stiff, and I was worried about the upcoming symposium. Day one of the symposium did not go well for me and Gadget. The format is tricky as there are lots of walk breaks while the other rider in the session attempts a movement. There isn't much time to warm up, and Gadget never quite got through enough to do anything well. We worked on my position during the ride. I rode in the double bridle, and by the middle of the ride, the trainer told me to tie my curb rein and place my stirrups over the saddle. The trainer told me that I am too loose in my hips and my thighs need to stay snug on the saddle. I also need to move less in the saddle - try to keep my seat on a postage stamp. The lesson was a blow to my confid...

This weekend I rode in my first clinic of the year with Ryan. I felt good going into this clinic since Gadget worked well last week for Kristin. I had a really nice ride on Friday morning  working on getting him back on his haunches and off of my hands in the snaffle bridle. I started in the walk, by making him carry his own head. After some dramatic head flinging, he had such a better balance. I put Gadget in his (beautiful, blingy) double bridle for the Ryan clinic, and he felt good initially but got heavier through the ride. I told Ryan my goal is to ride fourth level next year. We worked on making his trot smaller, then larger in the correct balance. To the right, I need to ride him in slight shoulder-fore without bending the neck. After all these years, this is still tricky for me. We schooled simple changes and they were horrible! I was so surprised, but Gadget just kind of shuffled into them. I was really collecting, collecting, then asking for walk. Bad. Terrible. We f...