Thursday, July 1, 2010

extra ride

well, not really extra since I didn't get to ride Tuesday. But the show is coming up and I've got like five more possible rides if nothing goes wrong. To be perfect. hahaha.

So we left the kids at home and went in and while I rode, he did stocking. Then when I was finished I did stocking with him. Then the whole family spent the rest of the day at the lake.

But first the ride. When I got there the ladies were in a lesson then Susan had a lesson so I didn't get to ride in the dressage arena so we didn't practice the actual test yet. Which may be good. I'm always in between on that riding the test so you know what you have issues with and not riding it but riding all the movements and working on it that way.

So we started out with just the usual, free walk, working walk, transitions, shoulder fore/in, circle, free walk, etc. I think after the first trot I added a few 1/4 pirouettes at walk. I would need someone watching the back end to make sure I still had the movement but that girl can do walk pirouettes now I'm pretty sure. Shoulder in not so much. I basically forgot to alternate off with leg yields and so I'll remember it next time. Then we trotted for a little warm up, transitions, shoulder fore, circle. Then I went ahead and asked for right lead canter so that I could come back to more walk and trot work then do the other lead, etc. First ask and got a cross canter, which had happened before. What is that? Is that me being off balance or something? Anyway. Second ask and it was the most beautiful canter, almost but not quite right from the beginning. She relaxed right into it. The downward transition was a little rough but I took that for that beautiful canter. It was so nice Lisa actually stopped what she was doing and watched it!

So then we walked some, then some more trot and walk work. Then left lead canter. Still had problems with that upward transition, getting the correct lead. But we did, and it was ok. We did that transition several times but didn't hold the canter but for about half a circle.

Then stretchy trot the other way (I'd done one after the other canter already) and we quit. She wasn't even hot but I felt like I'd gotten good work out of her. There's really so much more to do.

If I had a goal for this show it would just be to score 60 but I don't know if we can, honestly. The walk and the canter have coefficients and they are not our strong points. But still, if I can ride accurately enough and if she'll cooperate in the transitions especially, it should be possible. Just possible.

I am fine if I don't get a lesson at all before this one. I'm fine if I do too (although I do not want it to be the last ride before the show!). But I have this depth of trusting myself in this process. I mean, you need coaching, you need lessons, but less, I think, FOR a show. That is sort of like teaching to the test. It really helps to have someone see that your circles are all too small and point it out so that you can be mindful of that. But, well, I guess I just also trust the me and the horse thing.

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