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March - in like a lion, out like a lamb?

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I haven't written for some time and, really, I  have had so many breakthroughs over the last couple months that I can't believe I haven't been writing about all of them! My last clinic with Kenny was good and bad. I got kicked in the knee as soon as we arrived, and I could not ride Friday evening. However, watching Kenny ride Gadget so lightly yet so round and uphill was a great education in itself. I sucked it up and rode the next two days and really tried to carry the softness into my rides. We worked on the 4s and I am finally getting good changes! Everything felt good, but the pain was not good. The doctor later confirmed that I have a lateral tibia plateau compression fracture and a strained MCL. Both are sore every day, and I am not allowed to ride for another month. Boo! Hiss!

Before I was injured, I really felt huge improvement in the canter and trot halfpasses. My trot halfpasses require that I actually soften on the outside rein to allow the bend. This made an amazing difference in my left trot halfpass. In the right trot halfpass, I think I need to actually soften on the outside, but ask for the bend with the inside as well.

In the canter halfpass, Gadget really flows to the right as long as I don't override it. To the left, I bend him and then keep moving his haunches over. In my last ride, they both felt awesome.

As for contact, I am really keeping it looser and more playful, but I bump him up with little halfhalts. This is working much better.

Kenny explained that rather than schooling the canter pirouettes, I need to school the pirouette canter and how to control it. On the smallish circle to the right, he worked on putting Gadget's hindquarters to the inside, but not allowing him to swing his shoulders around. To the left, it's really about teaching him to take small steps with his haunches to the inside. Then schooling a quarter turn allows me to still have control. The halfpasses after schooling the pirouettes feel really amazing.

While I am recovering, Gadget is going to Kristin's for a month of training. I know that he will feel amazing when I get him home, but I am really sad to be side-lined while Gadget and I were really starting to click!



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