4, 5, and 6 strides on a bending line

I thought today was going to be a dud lesson because I've been in a snit and I assumed that meant I'd be difficult and not very receptive. Instead, much to my surprise, it was one of those lessons where I could hardly keep up I was learning so much. Here's the top takeaways: #1 - Ride him forward into the down transition. I was watching Shannon do this at her clinic last weekend, and I started to suspect that I haven't been doing this right. Just like with most things Charlie, it helps me enormously to watch Shannon riding him because I see things that I am doing wrong without realizing it. I think it was the last clinic when I realized she really almost never uses her hands (at least, compared to me) and when I ride him with my seat, he understands better and is far more responsive. So I've been trying to down transitions with my seat only (no pulling back on the reins) and we go down, but we also kind of plummet onto the forehand instead of rocking back onto the hind legs. And this one was one of those slap the forehead it's so obvious lessons - use leg at the same time. Halt the forward momentum with the seat, but use the leg to keep the impulsion and eureka - a nice down transition. Like with everything, it's simple, but going to take some practice to recalibrate the way I've been riding. #2 - Turn from the outside rein. Seriously, how many times do I have to keep being reminded of this? It's sooooo much easier to approach a fence when I turn from the outside rein, but the second I don't think about it, I turn with the inside hand. Use outside rein, outside leg. #3 - Slowing down cross country for the next show. We'll find a nice, long flat stretch and I'll go slower there on purpose. My rhythm was consistent, just a hair too fast at Aspen, so if I just use one flat stretch to go a bit slower, I should hit it just about right. Instead of trying to take my nice consistent 1-2-3-4 and go oonneee-ttwwooo-thhhreeee-foooourr and risk going too slow. #4 - Ok, the exercise for today. To help me spot the distance (something I used to be able to do), first we rode a cross rail with the poles spaced close and rode in on a tiny "piroutte" canter. We did this fine - it was just like our 10 meter circle dressage work only going over a fence. Then Shannon turned it into a bendy line that was a 5 stride. So first we rode it at 5, then shortened the canter to ride it at 6, then rode 5 again, then lengthened for 4, then 5 again. But it took me approximately a million times to get the 6. The 4 I can do no problem. The 5 I do inconsistently (sometimes we launch). But the 6 felt like we were standing still on a merry-go-round (just going up/down/up/down in the canter) and it would still be a 5. Most of this was **the take off spot looks way too close to the fence to me**. So we'd be coming in tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny and I'd think "oh, lord, we're going to go straight through the fence" and launch him from the tiny canter instead of waiting to get to the spot. And then second, it takes me a long time (2 strides) to sit back up and half halt him after we land. I need to get much, much faster at that. Once I finally got the spot a few times, it turns out it's much, much closer than I thought it was - especially on the tiny canter. So it was a really good "feel" test for how off my spot perception was. And it was a great example of how easily I launch (the 4 felt smooth) and how hard it is for me to collect (not Charlie, he was a champ, like always). So it was really good to get it in my head how close we can get and how I can ride right up to the base of the jump - something we'll need to continue to work on, but is step 1 in getting that readjusted in my head. Have I mentioned I love Charlie? Shannon was right a year or two ago - at 36 and not actually all that experienced, a horse like Charlie is what I needed - not a Willig.