Dressage Day by Day

Well, 2016 is coming to an end and it's been another interesting year full of highs and lows. I started out the year with a real drive to get healthy and I dieted and exercised like crazy. The scale didn't move much, and I was ridiculously frustrated. I had blood-work checked, tried cutting carbs and nothing worked. I basically gave up and gained a good part of the weight back. Looking back at the pictures from the Spring, I definitely was leaner, even if the scale didn't say so. In 2017, I am getting back on the bandwagon and I am going to try to once again to get back to a good, healthy weight. The show season this year was great. My first show at the MODA show in April was a big learning experience riding 4-2 and 4-3 for the first time. Moving up to PSG by July was truly a lifetime dream accomplished. I hoped that I might finish my silver medal, but I'm fine with leaving that for next year. Breaking my foot on October 29 was one of the lower points of the year.

Gadget has had a lighter workload the last couple months, but I have been trying to get us both back in gear over the past couple weeks. I have been really nailing my tempis, so I was excited to show Ryan our progress. I also have been riding Gadget in the snaffle exclusively and felt like I was getting a better connection in the canter, so I decided day 1 of the clinic would be the snaffle. In this clinic, Ryan really focused on getting Gadget more active behind. We spent a lot of time in our "smaller trot" where we make it as small as possible while still asking for activity. Ryan said this has a better rhythm than it used to (he doesn't try to walk), but we need to get more power from the hind end. I was constantly reminded to keep my hands low, even though they felt fairly low. It's amazing how "feel" can be so misleading. We did some shoulder-in to half-pass in trot. This felt pretty good. We moved to canter, establishing shoulder fore before doi

August 2016 Kenny Clinic Although I had not ridden with Kenny since the spring, he immediately picked up on all of our current issues. He has an amazing eye and way of bringing out the best in a horse and rider. The first day of the clinic, we rode outside in the blazing heat. Gadget loves Robin's outdoor arena, so I was thrilled to be outside. I warmed Gadget up in walk, trot, and canter in my very long and low and stretching mode. It's brief, but I like to think it will help keep his back happy. We then moved into some trot work. To the left, I am to get Gadget more "up" and ride less angle than is my tendency. The right shoulder-in is lovely, so there's not much to fix other than to take a touch of right rein to make sure the bend and flexion are clear. Trot halfpass felt good. Canter halfpass to the left was sticky as Gadget thought I was collecting him for a pirouette and would take over. Kenny emphasized to keep straighter and move my right rein away