Dressage Day by Day

It's been a long time since I have actually written any updates about Iggy. Partly, that is because it is difficult to write about things when you are still very much in the experimental stage. I think I have loved dressage since I was a teenager because of the constant experimenting, strategizing, and problem solving of every ride. I love the intellectual side of it. However, puzzles are more fun when you are making progress toward solving them. They are less fun when you spend a lot of time wondering if you have made progress, stayed the same, or actually screwed things up. From Iggy's first show - trying to keep the big canter in one piece! Iggy is my puzzle. He is a puzzle that makes my eyes light up and my heart sing when I see him. He has this sweet baby face and the personality of a labradoodle. When I look at him, he is everything I ever wanted. Yet, our journey has not been quite as straight forward as I thought it might be. When I sat on Iggy for the first tim...

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! N...

So Gadget and I attended our first regional championship and it was great. The atmosphere felt like that of a big horse show and the quality of the horses was incredible. Lexington, Virginia was cool and crisp, and Gadget was very on edge when we arrived on Wednesday. He didn't really quite settle, but Kristin coached me through the ride and we got some good work. On Thursday I rode 4-1 early in the morning and it felt like Gadget was still on edge. He was trying to be good, but he seemed to be waiting for a boogey man around the corner. I didn't feel like I had much rideability, but Gadget mostly held it together and his changes were really lovely. We won the class with a 64% I was perplexed as it didn't feel like a winning ride. In the afternoon, I rode 3-3, and felt like I had more rideability. I came out of the ring happier with the my ride, so I was perplexed when it only scored a 61% from the same judge that gave us the win in the morning. Gadget was having some un...

After about 6 weeks out of the saddle due to a compression fracture and strained MCL to my right knee, I am finally back in the saddle! Gadget has been at Kristin's, so I drove up to Cleveland for a lesson. I rode Gadget on Saturday, watched Kristin ride Gadget on Sunday, and then took a lesson on Isaac on Sunday. Here are just the highlights to remember: Ride with square, straight shoulders I tend to put Gadget in shoulder-fore all the time and ride with my shoulders twisted to the inside, and I let him disengage his haunches. I need to almost think of turning my chest slightly to the outside. Through corners, I need to think of keeping my shoulders back and very square so as not to overturn. This is also crucial for the turn on to centerline. Do less, expect more. Isaac has a nice, strong collected canter. I was able to work on really holding my seat still while still maintaining the active canter. Need to do this with Gadget. Be softer on the left rein in the ri...

As I have mentioned before, I have issues with my left rein -- mostly that I have a death grip on it. In July, I rode in two clinics and both clinicians really zeroed in on my contact issues in different ways. The first clinic with Bent really pointed out my over-active right hand and dead-weight left hand. Bent also explained that when I get stuck in the left rein, Gadget gets stuck in his back. I need to be more playful and giving with the left hand. A constant reminder through the lessons was to steady the right rein and give on the left. Bent rode Gadget the first day and proclaimed that "he's not easy." However, Bent really stretched Gadget in a long contact to get him loose and moving through his back. He did lots of changes of direction to supple him, but he pushed him forward to a longer, round contact. The next day, I warmed up for about 15 minutes with Gadget long and low in this way. I think it really helped get his back moving. I have incorporated the stret...