Three for one special (post): pilates, dressage, and jumping & special bonus - Crystal Gallo

Saturday morning I went to Redmond for my first session with Beth Glosten, the specialist in rider pilates.  It was totally worth it!  Because I was there sans Charlie, we got to focus on my posture instead of trying to ride at the same time.  (At the end of August, I will ride Charlie with her, so I wanted to see her first without him.)  She first checked out my movement on my own, and then gave me some exercises to do for my specific issues.  What was really, really useful about this was for someone to watch me, and then tell me how to do it correctly.  While I've done yoga and dabbled in pilates, I am very good at moving the wrong way, but feeling like I'm doing the position, until someone moves me a centimeter to the right.  Now I'll be able to practice doing it properly instead of fumbling in the dark, trying to figure it out on my own.
It also helped understand some of my quirks, and using a biomechanic explanation not only was useful for just another way of describing the same thing my other trainers have seen, but to see it explained for my body, kind of helped the light go off.
The same old stuff showed up, but now I have some tools to work on it at home too, so I'm really excited.

Then Saturday afternoon I had a dressage lesson with Shannon.  It was really good because finally the light bulb went off about haunches in.  Just like the pilates - another thing I have been practicing incorrectly!  I am very good at doing a leg yield, but have not been doing haunches in.  What makes it haunches in is a feeling of being a "joint" that Charlie bends around.  So if you're doing haunches in to the left, then your left leg acts as the pivot, staying on his side but only giving an aid to keep him moving forward.  Then your right leg bends his haunches AROUND the left leg, so his front legs stay on the track but his back legs twist.  When you get it right, it feels twisted - not moving sideways like a leg yield, but the best way I can describe it is that joint in his back is under your seat.  Then doing this on a 10 meter circle is so hard it makes my tongue stick out.  But when we did it, it engaged his hind leg and then he would bounce out with that underneath impulsion which feels amazing.
The other really useful (but simple) part of the lesson was to think about keeping my toes pointed in.  This helps keep my heels down and from digging into his side at every stride.

Then today we jumped, and the big challenge was getting Charlie moving forward off my legs.  He was sluggish and finally we had to go tearing around in a gallop to get him going.  He perked up as soon as the fences got a little harder, and then jumped like a rock star.  When his canter wasn't big enough, I still have a hard time deciding whether to launch it or if we can fit in one more stride, but when we do that last squished in stride, he jumps up and round and it's so much nicer than the flat launch.
Just like dressage, trying to get him going is actually shooting myself in the foot because I dig in, then dig in harder, so he ignores my aid, then ignores it harder.  So I have GOT to break that habit so I can start moving him off my leg.

 Crystal Gallo was Charlie's dam.  If anyone has one of her mares, would you send a comment to me?