Dressage Day by Day

So April and May flew by in a flash, and I forgot to summarize my clinic in April with Kenny. It was a beautiful weekend for the clinic, so I had the opportunity to ride in Robin's beautiful outdoor arena. I also decided it was time to ride in the double bridle in front of a trainer and get feed back. The ride was great. I was rushing Gadget too much, instead of getting cadence in the trot. We worked on the trot halfpass and, oddly enough, the right one is now his better one. We worked on a few steps of half pass, then medium trot forward, then keep the forward and half pass again. I need more vroom in my half pass and shoulder in.  In the shoulder in, I need to do less with the inside rein, particularly to the left. Get him listening to the inside leg and get the bend there, not with the inside rein. I know this stuff, and I don't know why I continue to do it! Canter work felt really good. It actually felt so much better than it looked on the video, but I'm ok...

It's been one heck of winter with lots of snow and frigid temperatures. The horses were not turned out for weeks, so I tried to make a point to keep Gadget working so he would not go completely stir crazy. We really had some breakthroughs! I think I am finally finding the way to ride him uphill in light contact while still keeping an active seat. The trot and canter quality has much improved. Yesterday after my ride with Kenny he said it was the best he has ever seen Gadget go. It made my heart sing to hear that! The video confirms that Gadget is looking more elastic and generally happier. He worked so hard yesterday! It was so much fun! We worked on medium trot and canter: In the canter, cut the corner by a step and leg yield him that last step on the rail, then start the medium. To bring him back, tap him lightly on hindquarters. Reacts well to this by becoming very active. In the trot, train the medium from quarter line to quarter line on the diagonal. When you turn on to diagon...