Lesson 1 -
It feels appropriate that the first day of the new year is the first day of my Gifted scholarship adventure. I thought this balmy winter that we've been having was playing perfectly into my winter plans, but today had a high of 32 degrees with strong wind that made it much colder. But after adding a couple layers, I drove to Akron, Ohio for my first lesson.
I brought Gadget to Shade Tree Farm train with Kristin Stein on Christmas eve, so he has already had four rides with her. Even with only those four rides on him, I could feel a big difference in the quality of the canter he offered in his warm up. As Kristin says, I have gotten used to the feel of his canter being a hair away from four beat. We want the canter to "roll" and to feel fluid because he uses his whole body. He's strong enough to really carry with power now, but I have to ask for it. And it's going to take time to get the expression all the time.
The theme of this lesson was POWER! Not just power, but keeping him UP. Kristin seemed excited about the power she had been tapping into for short spurts. She began calling Gadget's canter "beautiful," and we both laughed at the irony of the horse with world's worst canter a few years ago as now having a "beautiful" canter. It's really remarkable. In this lesson, it all boiled down to straightness (fixing my body, then his body), then not being afraid to hold the power. It's the feeling of a pot almost boiling over that makes the canter light and buoyant.
I have also been struggling with the feeling of whether he is "up" and on the aids or whether he is just "up" and above the bit. So I have been inadvertently just throwing Gadget on his forehand in both the trot and canter. Kristin encouraged me to find the lightness in the contact for the trot and canter where Gadget carries himself and actually feels lighter on his front feet. Sometimes this doesn't feel round enough, but after watching the video, it is plenty round and looks lovely. We always work on making the hindend quicker, but in this lesson, we worked on not letting the front feet stay on the ground to long. This gives the hind legs someplace to step! The feeling was amazing -- light, powerful, and Gadget felt proud! What an awesome start to this adventure!
Lesson 2 -
Today, I talked to Kristin about my own confusion about how to use my body to ride the bigger trot I am getting. My body moves a lot in the saddle, and Kristin describes it as being too flexible through my spine. I told Kristin that I felt that I could stay quieter in the trot by snugging my thighs in the big trot, but it had the results of not getting the best trot from Gadget. She explained that instead of thinking of "thigh-master," I need to work on holding my body with my core. The position adjustments amounted to square shoulders, thumbs up, elbows in, sitting a bit more forward on my pelvis (this makes a huge difference), closing my thighs but not "squeezing" them, and thinking forward with the chest. All of this helps keep my position quieter, but it's hard! I was sore after this ride, but in a good way.
We worked on more control of the changes in this lesson. Gadget has lovely, quick changes, but he takes over in the tempis. Part of this is because I just release everything after the change. Kristin really pointed out how I lose the shoulder and to be more clear. It took several attempts but finally I stopped overbending and popping the outside shoulder and rode him straighter. Not surprisingly, it helped us maintain our nice tempo and collection after the series, too.
The other big lesson here was to change the way I think about the canter transition and the change. I have become accustomed to letting Gadget push down or "dive" in both. Now, I am to think of making this an "upward" movement. So, this takes lots of preparation and thought on my part to encourage Gadget to sit and then ask him to stay up, up, up in the transitions and changes. We worked through this in walk/canter transitions first where the aids are easy. Finally, we started to use this in the changes and it took several tries before I could feel the right prep. In the last minute, I tend to just throw Gadget away in an attempt to not block him. Gadget was so good and tried his heart out in this portion of the lesson. After every good attempt, we walked and loudly praised him. Kristin said this is new for both of us, so we need to be sure to do this thoughtfully, use big rewards, and let Gadget have a little time to digest. She also said not to get upset if the changes get a little wonky while we ask for them to be more up -- as always in the changes, things can get a little worse before they get better again. It was so reassuring to have her walk me through this. Big hugs, pats, and lots of treats for Gadget after this lesson.
Lesson 3 -
We planned to put the changes away for this lesson and work on some shoulder-in, haunches-in, and halfpass. However, as tends to happen with horses, Gadget gave us a bit of a surprise. Shade Tree Farm has an indoor arena that has trusses built for a church. It is a stunningly beautiful indoor, made even more wonderful by the large mirrors.
It was so nice to use the mirrors in working the shoulder-in and haunches-in. Right away, Kristin said I was riding these movements better today. I could feel the playfulness needed to ask for power, tempo, up (what most probably call "self-carriage"), and bend in different combinations. It was awesome. After moving into the canter, Gadget was just a little stuck. Kristin encouraged me to really ask for some very forward strides, but Gadget was just a little stiff. Coming around the corner, I probably gave a bit more leg than Gadget appreciated, and he kicked out. Luck would have it that he kicked right through a mirror. Thank God, he didn't have a scratch on him and the tempered glass shattered, but stayed in place.
After assuring Gadget was fine, I felt a bit embarrassed and told Gadget that this is why we can't have nice things. Seriously, who walks into a fabulous dressage facility and shatters the mirror?! Kristin blocked off the area to make sure there were no safety concerns but said we needed to go back to work. This was a good mental exercise for me to let it go and move on. Gadget reminds most of a poky cow pony on the ground, but his thoroughbred sensitivities come out when he is afraid. And he was terrified of the fractured pane of glass. We spent time walking circles edging closer to that end of the arena and then trotting with him long and low in circles. Finally, he began to regain some composure, so we went back to work.
We worked on shoulder-in down the long side, turn down centerline and halfpass. The key is for me to not let him get behind the leg. Instead of thinking of my inside leg as for bend, Kristin told me to think of it for power to carry him forward. It took several attempts, but the final result was truly beautiful. It was powerful AND flowing. It's so hard for me to get both. To the right, it got a bit harder. I overbend him this direction and get his shoulders stuck behind the motion. The key is to not only think of powering from my inside leg, but to actually turn my shoulders and allow his shoulders to advance. It literally feels like it releases the handbreak in the halfpass.
In the canter halfpass, Gadget's anxiety started to shine through again. The ideas are the same to ride him united with power from my inside leg. However, we could see Gadget was feeling stressed about the mirror again and decided to end with some nice long and low to let him work through his fear. Although it wasn't the lesson I expected, it was a great lesson nonetheless.
Aside from the riding, I also visited the amazing Big Dee's tack shop! It's huge and so impressive! I bought a beautiful caramel colors dressage whip and a dry-erase dressage arena to start memorizing 4-2. Looking forward to moving up! In addition to my shopping fun, Kristin took me to a fun lunch where I met several of her other students. Talking about dressage, sipping cocktails, and eating amazing food is the description of a perfect afternoon. Then we headed back to the barn to feed the horses supper. Because I board my horse, I am definitely not used to having this much time with Gadget and it's really enjoyable to spend a little extra time loving on him, adjusting his blankets, and making sure he was set for the evening.
It feels appropriate that the first day of the new year is the first day of my Gifted scholarship adventure. I thought this balmy winter that we've been having was playing perfectly into my winter plans, but today had a high of 32 degrees with strong wind that made it much colder. But after adding a couple layers, I drove to Akron, Ohio for my first lesson.
I brought Gadget to Shade Tree Farm train with Kristin Stein on Christmas eve, so he has already had four rides with her. Even with only those four rides on him, I could feel a big difference in the quality of the canter he offered in his warm up. As Kristin says, I have gotten used to the feel of his canter being a hair away from four beat. We want the canter to "roll" and to feel fluid because he uses his whole body. He's strong enough to really carry with power now, but I have to ask for it. And it's going to take time to get the expression all the time.
The theme of this lesson was POWER! Not just power, but keeping him UP. Kristin seemed excited about the power she had been tapping into for short spurts. She began calling Gadget's canter "beautiful," and we both laughed at the irony of the horse with world's worst canter a few years ago as now having a "beautiful" canter. It's really remarkable. In this lesson, it all boiled down to straightness (fixing my body, then his body), then not being afraid to hold the power. It's the feeling of a pot almost boiling over that makes the canter light and buoyant.
I have also been struggling with the feeling of whether he is "up" and on the aids or whether he is just "up" and above the bit. So I have been inadvertently just throwing Gadget on his forehand in both the trot and canter. Kristin encouraged me to find the lightness in the contact for the trot and canter where Gadget carries himself and actually feels lighter on his front feet. Sometimes this doesn't feel round enough, but after watching the video, it is plenty round and looks lovely. We always work on making the hindend quicker, but in this lesson, we worked on not letting the front feet stay on the ground to long. This gives the hind legs someplace to step! The feeling was amazing -- light, powerful, and Gadget felt proud! What an awesome start to this adventure!
Lesson 2 -
Today, I talked to Kristin about my own confusion about how to use my body to ride the bigger trot I am getting. My body moves a lot in the saddle, and Kristin describes it as being too flexible through my spine. I told Kristin that I felt that I could stay quieter in the trot by snugging my thighs in the big trot, but it had the results of not getting the best trot from Gadget. She explained that instead of thinking of "thigh-master," I need to work on holding my body with my core. The position adjustments amounted to square shoulders, thumbs up, elbows in, sitting a bit more forward on my pelvis (this makes a huge difference), closing my thighs but not "squeezing" them, and thinking forward with the chest. All of this helps keep my position quieter, but it's hard! I was sore after this ride, but in a good way.
We worked on more control of the changes in this lesson. Gadget has lovely, quick changes, but he takes over in the tempis. Part of this is because I just release everything after the change. Kristin really pointed out how I lose the shoulder and to be more clear. It took several attempts but finally I stopped overbending and popping the outside shoulder and rode him straighter. Not surprisingly, it helped us maintain our nice tempo and collection after the series, too.
The other big lesson here was to change the way I think about the canter transition and the change. I have become accustomed to letting Gadget push down or "dive" in both. Now, I am to think of making this an "upward" movement. So, this takes lots of preparation and thought on my part to encourage Gadget to sit and then ask him to stay up, up, up in the transitions and changes. We worked through this in walk/canter transitions first where the aids are easy. Finally, we started to use this in the changes and it took several tries before I could feel the right prep. In the last minute, I tend to just throw Gadget away in an attempt to not block him. Gadget was so good and tried his heart out in this portion of the lesson. After every good attempt, we walked and loudly praised him. Kristin said this is new for both of us, so we need to be sure to do this thoughtfully, use big rewards, and let Gadget have a little time to digest. She also said not to get upset if the changes get a little wonky while we ask for them to be more up -- as always in the changes, things can get a little worse before they get better again. It was so reassuring to have her walk me through this. Big hugs, pats, and lots of treats for Gadget after this lesson.
Lesson 3 -
We planned to put the changes away for this lesson and work on some shoulder-in, haunches-in, and halfpass. However, as tends to happen with horses, Gadget gave us a bit of a surprise. Shade Tree Farm has an indoor arena that has trusses built for a church. It is a stunningly beautiful indoor, made even more wonderful by the large mirrors.
It was so nice to use the mirrors in working the shoulder-in and haunches-in. Right away, Kristin said I was riding these movements better today. I could feel the playfulness needed to ask for power, tempo, up (what most probably call "self-carriage"), and bend in different combinations. It was awesome. After moving into the canter, Gadget was just a little stuck. Kristin encouraged me to really ask for some very forward strides, but Gadget was just a little stiff. Coming around the corner, I probably gave a bit more leg than Gadget appreciated, and he kicked out. Luck would have it that he kicked right through a mirror. Thank God, he didn't have a scratch on him and the tempered glass shattered, but stayed in place.
After assuring Gadget was fine, I felt a bit embarrassed and told Gadget that this is why we can't have nice things. Seriously, who walks into a fabulous dressage facility and shatters the mirror?! Kristin blocked off the area to make sure there were no safety concerns but said we needed to go back to work. This was a good mental exercise for me to let it go and move on. Gadget reminds most of a poky cow pony on the ground, but his thoroughbred sensitivities come out when he is afraid. And he was terrified of the fractured pane of glass. We spent time walking circles edging closer to that end of the arena and then trotting with him long and low in circles. Finally, he began to regain some composure, so we went back to work.
We worked on shoulder-in down the long side, turn down centerline and halfpass. The key is for me to not let him get behind the leg. Instead of thinking of my inside leg as for bend, Kristin told me to think of it for power to carry him forward. It took several attempts, but the final result was truly beautiful. It was powerful AND flowing. It's so hard for me to get both. To the right, it got a bit harder. I overbend him this direction and get his shoulders stuck behind the motion. The key is to not only think of powering from my inside leg, but to actually turn my shoulders and allow his shoulders to advance. It literally feels like it releases the handbreak in the halfpass.
In the canter halfpass, Gadget's anxiety started to shine through again. The ideas are the same to ride him united with power from my inside leg. However, we could see Gadget was feeling stressed about the mirror again and decided to end with some nice long and low to let him work through his fear. Although it wasn't the lesson I expected, it was a great lesson nonetheless.
Aside from the riding, I also visited the amazing Big Dee's tack shop! It's huge and so impressive! I bought a beautiful caramel colors dressage whip and a dry-erase dressage arena to start memorizing 4-2. Looking forward to moving up! In addition to my shopping fun, Kristin took me to a fun lunch where I met several of her other students. Talking about dressage, sipping cocktails, and eating amazing food is the description of a perfect afternoon. Then we headed back to the barn to feed the horses supper. Because I board my horse, I am definitely not used to having this much time with Gadget and it's really enjoyable to spend a little extra time loving on him, adjusting his blankets, and making sure he was set for the evening.
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