Gram was ready to work tonight... Because she is a mare, those night don't happen very often, but when they do, they make my night! Tonight, she just wanted to work. She didn't brace, she didn't clench the bit and she felt pretty darn good. The best thing for her is when we go into canter early in the warm up. For some reason every horse I have had goes that way; so I am thinking it might be me not them. For me as I rider, I feel like I can ride the canter better than I can the trot. The trot is a lot of work for me. So maybe it loosens me up and allows the horse to trot more freely. I didn't really walk away from the lesson with one thing that stood out. The whole thing was exactly what was needed when it was needed, if that makes any sense. The canter to the right we worked on more activity as she tends to get a bit lazy behind in that direction. We got some decent jump and them brought her back to trot. Again the focus is on the engagement of the right hind. I have to remember to ride in what is a little counter intuitive for me: slight haunches-in when traveling to the left. I feel like I have drilled so much for the slight shoulder-fore I have exacerbated the problem. This is exactly why there is nothing better than a good eye on the ground. The process is so gradual, I don't realize when I have over done it. I work so hard at one piece I forget about the complex system that resides underneath.
We also worked on a nice exercise for the medium trots. Shorter on the spot trot out of the corner across the diagonal until the quarter-line, then medium trot to the next quarter-line, and back tot the shorter on the spot trot. I still need to remember to go for less bend in the leg yields, because for some reason the second I put my body into position she bends her neck- I did it I am again just not always aware! Overall the lesson was a success!
So I will end with some videos of Gramarye from when I first started working with her- you can be the judge of the progress: October 2008!
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