John squeezed me in after young rider's camp, so I got to ride with an audience (yech) and in an arena with a big full course set up (yay). Even better, Ashley rode Rambo part of the ride with me, so that was nice.
John had me start on a circle, getting him round.
From there, we rode a circle with two ground poles. This was as hard as it was with Christa a couple weeks ago, and John suggested a counter bend around 1/4 of the circle, then, a few strides before the next pole, go back to regular bend. That helped a lot.
From there, we went around the circle, over the pole, then down the line to a plank. Around the 4th time, John asked me how many times I was going to jump it over on the left hand side, so from there I fixed it.
But for the love of god, it never occurred to me to fix it on my own (or notice).
Then we were supposed to ride it as a six stride line, but I rode it as five (twice) and then finally the. third time got it in six (I had to say "whoa" with my mouth) and then we rode it in four. four was the easiest.
Then we rode a similar line going the other direction.
Then we rode a triple, which was a vertical, two stride forward, oxer, one stride, vertical. Duke tripped between the oxer and vertical, and then heaved himself into the air and I swear levitated over the second vertical so that he wouldn't touch a rail, which amused John, since he just blows around hitting rails at the shows.
John said (about the drift) that I need to set up like 7 cardboard cutouts of him around the arena, which I agree with. I think Duke respects John.
It was a great lesson - once I was riding I quit thinking about all the kids watching me, and the main takeaway was John said to balance him before I start the turn - that if I do a little bit of counterbend and then balance, I come into the whole line correctly, but it's when we puke over the first one unbalanced that I can't really get it back.
Even though it was drizzly and cool, Duke got pretty sweaty. I was thinking on the way down it's probably good that John is an hour away, because I leave work so wound up and tense and upset and I don't want to do anything but be mad, but by the time I get there, I've calmed down some. And then after I ride with John, I always feel better. But damn, I am tired of how much work drains me.
Charlie with the long sought after cooler
Spring NWEC 2013 Novice
Wednesday, June 27, 2018
Sunday, June 17, 2018
Jump lesson with Christa - full course
Christa and I had a jump lesson before it got really hot today. First we got to walk around the cross country course, which was nice; then I watched the end of the prior lesson, so I got to see what the course was going to be.
John had us start with a little plank (which I, stupidly, completely missed for like three circles, inexplicably), but it was what felt like a really tight turn. So this made us have to ride off the outside rein and leg to get the bend right to get to the fence, and after we got it, he switched direction, and then raised the fence. This was a genius way to warm up for the course; it got Duke listening and soft and bent in just a few circles.
From there, we went down a four stride line, which was kind of a forward four. We did this a few times - I never felt like I got it quite perfect - and then we went onto the course.
The course was a black & white oxer off the right lead heading uphill (to the barn), left hand turn around to the four stride line, left hand turn up to an angled yellow & white oxer, with a six or seven stride bending line to the plank (which was the first fence of the four stride line), then a right hand turn to another angled oxer, on a straight line to angle over a gate/red vertical, then five strides on that line, then left hand turn around to a triple, which was a vertical, one stride, oxer, two strides (with a whoa!), vertical.
The first time through Duke did it, but I made a lot of little yelpy noises because it was ugly.
What was interesting though, was that after I rode it the first time, I kind of figured it out. So the next time through I didn't get my first fence like I wanted it, so I asked John to start over. He said that's fine, but that at the show, if Duke is just pulling the bit and not listening, halt, make a little circle, and then start again. Make him snap to attention before we go over the first fence, when it's too late to really have enough space to fix it. So I did, I had him bend to the outside, go a stride or two forward, then come back, THEN we went over the first fence, and it was MUCH better. Not perfect, but much better.
I had to say "whoa" between the final oxer and vertical, which surprised Duke and made him whoa, which helped us get out of the vertical very nice. Duke touched one fence, like once, so John said he doesn't know wtf is going on at the shows. He said he thinks that I am more relaxed in my lessons probably.
It was also great to watch Christa. Her mare was rubbing several fences, just getting lazy with her feet, so John had her bump a rail, and then, when she went back to doing it, he put a ground line after the oxer before the vertical, and that made her snap to attention.
Duke was a little peckish after yesterday's work (he ran away when he saw me coming to get him this morning), but he perked up a bit for the fences. I'm not sure he could have done a whole lot more though, without getting sloppy. He was glad to get home early and stretch back out in the pasture, I think.
It was a great confidence building lesson. When I was looking at the course, it looked busy. John said he should never ride a course this complex at a show, so he "should" be able to go clear at the show (eventually ....).
Christa and I did another lap afterwards, and she said we should make a team with Meg with a goal of the 1* at Rebecca next year. That would be so awesome.
John had us start with a little plank (which I, stupidly, completely missed for like three circles, inexplicably), but it was what felt like a really tight turn. So this made us have to ride off the outside rein and leg to get the bend right to get to the fence, and after we got it, he switched direction, and then raised the fence. This was a genius way to warm up for the course; it got Duke listening and soft and bent in just a few circles.
From there, we went down a four stride line, which was kind of a forward four. We did this a few times - I never felt like I got it quite perfect - and then we went onto the course.
The course was a black & white oxer off the right lead heading uphill (to the barn), left hand turn around to the four stride line, left hand turn up to an angled yellow & white oxer, with a six or seven stride bending line to the plank (which was the first fence of the four stride line), then a right hand turn to another angled oxer, on a straight line to angle over a gate/red vertical, then five strides on that line, then left hand turn around to a triple, which was a vertical, one stride, oxer, two strides (with a whoa!), vertical.
The first time through Duke did it, but I made a lot of little yelpy noises because it was ugly.
What was interesting though, was that after I rode it the first time, I kind of figured it out. So the next time through I didn't get my first fence like I wanted it, so I asked John to start over. He said that's fine, but that at the show, if Duke is just pulling the bit and not listening, halt, make a little circle, and then start again. Make him snap to attention before we go over the first fence, when it's too late to really have enough space to fix it. So I did, I had him bend to the outside, go a stride or two forward, then come back, THEN we went over the first fence, and it was MUCH better. Not perfect, but much better.
I had to say "whoa" between the final oxer and vertical, which surprised Duke and made him whoa, which helped us get out of the vertical very nice. Duke touched one fence, like once, so John said he doesn't know wtf is going on at the shows. He said he thinks that I am more relaxed in my lessons probably.
It was also great to watch Christa. Her mare was rubbing several fences, just getting lazy with her feet, so John had her bump a rail, and then, when she went back to doing it, he put a ground line after the oxer before the vertical, and that made her snap to attention.
Duke was a little peckish after yesterday's work (he ran away when he saw me coming to get him this morning), but he perked up a bit for the fences. I'm not sure he could have done a whole lot more though, without getting sloppy. He was glad to get home early and stretch back out in the pasture, I think.
It was a great confidence building lesson. When I was looking at the course, it looked busy. John said he should never ride a course this complex at a show, so he "should" be able to go clear at the show (eventually ....).
Christa and I did another lap afterwards, and she said we should make a team with Meg with a goal of the 1* at Rebecca next year. That would be so awesome.
Saturday, June 16, 2018
Let Duke do his job
We had an excellent dressage lesson today, which was a surprise since poor Duke only got ridden one other day this week. He had Monday off for the Neiders hearing, Tuesday off (surprisingly) because I was so wiped out from the hearing, Wednesday off for the farrier (which I probably should have ridden him), Thursday I rode him and he was stiff and downhill, and Friday he had off because the black bear hearing was surprisingly stressful.
John suggested that this was one of Duke's good qualities - he knew I needed him to step up, so he did. He thinks Duke might be more likely to offer things than to be forced into them, and that when I've had a rough week and I'm fried (like at my jump lesson with Christa), just let Duke do his job.
Duke was a little stiff to start, so John had us bend a little, and then do turns on the haunches. From there, Duke softened right up. A turn on the haunch was to bend him to the inside, then use the outside rein to start to turn his shoulders around (keeping the bend to the inside), then when he stepped over let him go forward, then change the bend.
John also had us do this movement at the trot, where I would come in on the circle and once he started crossing over, leg yield back out to the full size circle.
My dressage test from Aspen had a comment about not helping the horse enough, and John said he thought that it was probably the last 10% - that Duke is going around and he feels nice to me, but then John says "now do x" and then all of a sudden he feels amazing. John said he thinks probably the judge was looking for that last little bit.
So we did some leg yields, the bending to soften him, some nice transitions up and down, and a lot of bending not just through his neck but his body. Duke felt really great, and just showing up at John's after not being there for two weeks was like a load lifted off of me. We didn't ride with draw reins.
John also answered my huge list of questions:
Devoucoux is his second choice saddle, but he thinks I'm cutting my nose off to spite my face (I am, I know it, and I'm doing it anyway)
Show jumping he thinks when Duke is that flat in the warm up, we need to let him be calm, rev him up, then calm him down again. he thinks that it kind of surprised him, what was going on in the sj, compared to the warm up arena. He also said we could do more tight turns to the jumps, to kind of get him to perk up.
For cross country, he said he teaches all his students how to turn off the outside rein, so we didn't have problems with the slippery grass, but people who tried to turn off the inside rein slid out and then got scared.
For forging, he said that one of Duke's qualities is he steps underneath himself instead of having his legs 50' behind him. He wasn't bothered by it.
Tilting forward in the dressage photos he said is probably my saddle launching me forward.
For body pumping at xc, he'd have to see it, but he said that if I was sending him forward, then it was normal to be moving a little bit more with him.
He said he can help at dressage warm up because I'm less likely to push Duke into the bigger canter unless John is there to see it and help me with, what I'll call, the boundaries. I get timid.
For our last jump lesson with Christa, he said that everyone slows down with the half halt. And that's ok, so long as it is a slowing down where he's rebalancing onto his back legs, and not a slow down where he's tilting forward onto his forehand. He said it is trying to remember to keep some leg on when you are asking for the half halt.
And for turning from the leg instead of the hand, he said it is leg and hand. But that we tend to just use our inside hand, and we need to use the outside leg and hand to help round around the turn.
I think that was most of it. It's been a long couple weeks, and from my calendar, I don't even seem to have hit the half way mark. I go full speed all the way to Rebecca, and then get to breathe a little bit while I am there.
John suggested that this was one of Duke's good qualities - he knew I needed him to step up, so he did. He thinks Duke might be more likely to offer things than to be forced into them, and that when I've had a rough week and I'm fried (like at my jump lesson with Christa), just let Duke do his job.
Duke was a little stiff to start, so John had us bend a little, and then do turns on the haunches. From there, Duke softened right up. A turn on the haunch was to bend him to the inside, then use the outside rein to start to turn his shoulders around (keeping the bend to the inside), then when he stepped over let him go forward, then change the bend.
John also had us do this movement at the trot, where I would come in on the circle and once he started crossing over, leg yield back out to the full size circle.
My dressage test from Aspen had a comment about not helping the horse enough, and John said he thought that it was probably the last 10% - that Duke is going around and he feels nice to me, but then John says "now do x" and then all of a sudden he feels amazing. John said he thinks probably the judge was looking for that last little bit.
So we did some leg yields, the bending to soften him, some nice transitions up and down, and a lot of bending not just through his neck but his body. Duke felt really great, and just showing up at John's after not being there for two weeks was like a load lifted off of me. We didn't ride with draw reins.
John also answered my huge list of questions:
Devoucoux is his second choice saddle, but he thinks I'm cutting my nose off to spite my face (I am, I know it, and I'm doing it anyway)
Show jumping he thinks when Duke is that flat in the warm up, we need to let him be calm, rev him up, then calm him down again. he thinks that it kind of surprised him, what was going on in the sj, compared to the warm up arena. He also said we could do more tight turns to the jumps, to kind of get him to perk up.
For cross country, he said he teaches all his students how to turn off the outside rein, so we didn't have problems with the slippery grass, but people who tried to turn off the inside rein slid out and then got scared.
For forging, he said that one of Duke's qualities is he steps underneath himself instead of having his legs 50' behind him. He wasn't bothered by it.
Tilting forward in the dressage photos he said is probably my saddle launching me forward.
For body pumping at xc, he'd have to see it, but he said that if I was sending him forward, then it was normal to be moving a little bit more with him.
He said he can help at dressage warm up because I'm less likely to push Duke into the bigger canter unless John is there to see it and help me with, what I'll call, the boundaries. I get timid.
For our last jump lesson with Christa, he said that everyone slows down with the half halt. And that's ok, so long as it is a slowing down where he's rebalancing onto his back legs, and not a slow down where he's tilting forward onto his forehand. He said it is trying to remember to keep some leg on when you are asking for the half halt.
And for turning from the leg instead of the hand, he said it is leg and hand. But that we tend to just use our inside hand, and we need to use the outside leg and hand to help round around the turn.
I think that was most of it. It's been a long couple weeks, and from my calendar, I don't even seem to have hit the half way mark. I go full speed all the way to Rebecca, and then get to breathe a little bit while I am there.
Sunday, June 10, 2018
AFHT: 1/3, a brief moment of glory, 1/3
Duke was great in dressage. I rode him again without a whip, and although it was only our third best score (32.6), I felt like it was the most polished ride we've done so far. John saw it from a distance and said that our right lead canter was good but a little stiff transition.
I had to miss both lessons before the show because of two cases at work, which was distressing, so I was a bit anxious about jumping. And I only got to walk xc twice, again, because of work. But it looked pretty straightforward to me - there were three "challenges" and I thought I knew how to ride them all.
In warm up, John told me that I could use the long straightaways to make up the time from slowing him down so he didn't slip in the grass, and if it was really slippery, just to get time penalties. He said it was a course that rode with your hands low and in front of you. Duke felt good to me, and John watched us do the oxer and then agreed, just leave it alone and go. Here's how it went:
Fence 1 - roll top: Jumped beautifully
Fence 2 - small table: As expected, Duke skidded a little around the flower box, but I wanted him to feel the course was slippery early on so he'd self correct later. He jumped this nice.
Fence 3 - roll top: This was the first kind of challenging turn, and he skidded a little, so I was glad I'd used the flower box earlier to let him know to watch his feet. This one is on video.
Fence 4 - short upright with fake plants on top: I let him go forward on the road between #3 and #4, so we were a hair behind the time as we came out of the road, but I had him go really slow fences 1-3, so we made up a lot of the time in this one stretch. Jumped beautifully.
Fence 5 - saw: He was scared of it, and so I had to kick him and we jumped it at a bit of an angle. Scared isn't right; he was just looky and kind of weaving around a bit on the approach.
Fence 6 - very long log to downhill: Duke was mad that I kicked him, so he went charging up the hill and then was trying to ignore me turning him to this fence. So our approach wasn't quite what I would have liked.
Fence 7 A/B - smiling log, two stride, ditch: We jumped this pretty ok given our wrestling match to get to Fence 6 and then down a little hill. He over jumped the ditch just a little.
Fence 8 - trakehener: Nice canter up the hill to the trakehner. Just hopped over it. Here, I start to felt comfortable, like "we've got this".
Fence 9 - corner: Duke went charging off down the hill and along the side of the big hill, and so we did a little bit of wrestling to bring him back because 9 kind of zooms up after a bit of a turn in the path. He jumped it like it was no big thing.
Fence 10 - table: No big deal.
Fence 11 - steeplechase: I didn't get the line quite right; I wanted us to be going a little more right, but no big deal.
Fence 12 - log out of water: Duke got uppity when we went between the two rocks, just like I expected, but didn't hesitate at all going into the water. So we jumped this one out, where I wanted, to give us more space for the right hand turn.
Fence 13 - log with fake plants: This was a hard right turn through some trees. He was a champ.
Fence 14 - log to a downhill: We ran up the hill, and I had to tell him to sit up because there was a hill after. He didn't care, he was ready to go. Jumped it great.
Fence 15 - A frame (?) on top of a hill: He looked a little at the two prelim fences we had to go between, but no problem with the fence.
Fence 15B - A frame on right hand turn after hill: He had no problem going down hill, making the right hand turn, and getting over the next one.
Fence 16 - whale tail: We had a nice gallop across the grass, past a tree. Approaching the whale tail, he hesitated, like he thought we were through, but when I gave him so leg he re-energized. Jumped it like it was no big deal. Didn't even blink at the tree in the middle.
Fence 17A/B - up/down bank: He hesitated again on the way to the bank, but then moved on. He had no issues with jumping up, one stride, jumping off.
Fence 18 - sushi: This was down a hill, a left turn, and the jump was mid-way up an easy hill but sort of in the trees. He felt like he was hesitating again here, like he wasn't sure if we were finished. Maybe it was all the ropes and people?
Fence 19 - down bank into the water: He didn't bat an eye, just lept into the water like he does it all the time.
Fence 20 - very wide table: Soared over it. He's a pegasus.
We were about 15 seconds faster than optimum time, and I was a lot more comfortable with the speed (450 mpm) than the other shows. He wasn't grabby with the bit like he was at EI.
We moved from 8th (21) to 3rd because other people had trouble with cross country.
Then we blew it at show jumping.
He was a little stiff, so I spent warm up focused more on leg yields and counterbend in circles to get him loosened up. I was having trouble with the timing (the class was fast, as it turns out), so I would move him, then walk, then move him, then walk, and he doesn't like that much.
We jumped three of the warm up fences fine (cross rail, vertical, little oxer). Then I thought that I was way ahead of time, so I walked him, but it turns out I was just a rider away, so I did the big oxer, and he rubbed it a bit.
John got there just as we were about to go in, and he said to ride him assertively, not wait for him to do stuff.
Coming in: he looked at the fences; I tried to let him see a bunch of them.
Fence 1: Brown oxer; fine.
Fence 2: Wishing well. Rail.
Fence 3: White vertical; puked?
Fence 4: Big Aspen oxer; scramble because of puke on 3?
Fence 5A/B: Tribal fence; fine.
Fence 6: Halt cancer, yuck. I don't know what happened, but the line was wrong and we puked over it.
Fence 7: Seattle skyline, yuck. We were scrambling to get back together and I made the angle to the fence wrong.
Fence 8 A/B: Seahawks, meh. I swooped us way out next to the rail to get back together after 7, and then we came in weak. He got us out.
Fence 9: Safari oxer, rail. This seemed like it was going to be fine. John says we got the rail because I saw the distance, but didn't commit to one more half halt, which would have been all we needed.
John said the first rail was just Duke not picking up his feet, but the second rail was his hind leg dragging over from the missing half halt.
We still came in 7th/21 but we would have been 2nd, so I'm disappointed. I guess show jumping is his weakest, which will make me anxious every show because it'll be down to the wire.
I also thought his feet were a little too long (farrier kept them long last time, he's due for a shoeing on Wed, he's been forging a little bit for a couple weeks).
I guess given my distraction with work, this was pretty good for a little 7 year old and doofus me.
I had to miss both lessons before the show because of two cases at work, which was distressing, so I was a bit anxious about jumping. And I only got to walk xc twice, again, because of work. But it looked pretty straightforward to me - there were three "challenges" and I thought I knew how to ride them all.
In warm up, John told me that I could use the long straightaways to make up the time from slowing him down so he didn't slip in the grass, and if it was really slippery, just to get time penalties. He said it was a course that rode with your hands low and in front of you. Duke felt good to me, and John watched us do the oxer and then agreed, just leave it alone and go. Here's how it went:
Fence 1 - roll top: Jumped beautifully
Fence 2 - small table: As expected, Duke skidded a little around the flower box, but I wanted him to feel the course was slippery early on so he'd self correct later. He jumped this nice.
Fence 3 - roll top: This was the first kind of challenging turn, and he skidded a little, so I was glad I'd used the flower box earlier to let him know to watch his feet. This one is on video.
Fence 4 - short upright with fake plants on top: I let him go forward on the road between #3 and #4, so we were a hair behind the time as we came out of the road, but I had him go really slow fences 1-3, so we made up a lot of the time in this one stretch. Jumped beautifully.
Fence 5 - saw: He was scared of it, and so I had to kick him and we jumped it at a bit of an angle. Scared isn't right; he was just looky and kind of weaving around a bit on the approach.
Fence 6 - very long log to downhill: Duke was mad that I kicked him, so he went charging up the hill and then was trying to ignore me turning him to this fence. So our approach wasn't quite what I would have liked.
Fence 7 A/B - smiling log, two stride, ditch: We jumped this pretty ok given our wrestling match to get to Fence 6 and then down a little hill. He over jumped the ditch just a little.
Fence 8 - trakehener: Nice canter up the hill to the trakehner. Just hopped over it. Here, I start to felt comfortable, like "we've got this".
Fence 9 - corner: Duke went charging off down the hill and along the side of the big hill, and so we did a little bit of wrestling to bring him back because 9 kind of zooms up after a bit of a turn in the path. He jumped it like it was no big thing.
Fence 10 - table: No big deal.
Fence 11 - steeplechase: I didn't get the line quite right; I wanted us to be going a little more right, but no big deal.
Fence 12 - log out of water: Duke got uppity when we went between the two rocks, just like I expected, but didn't hesitate at all going into the water. So we jumped this one out, where I wanted, to give us more space for the right hand turn.
Fence 13 - log with fake plants: This was a hard right turn through some trees. He was a champ.
Fence 14 - log to a downhill: We ran up the hill, and I had to tell him to sit up because there was a hill after. He didn't care, he was ready to go. Jumped it great.
Fence 15 - A frame (?) on top of a hill: He looked a little at the two prelim fences we had to go between, but no problem with the fence.
Fence 15B - A frame on right hand turn after hill: He had no problem going down hill, making the right hand turn, and getting over the next one.
Fence 16 - whale tail: We had a nice gallop across the grass, past a tree. Approaching the whale tail, he hesitated, like he thought we were through, but when I gave him so leg he re-energized. Jumped it like it was no big deal. Didn't even blink at the tree in the middle.
Fence 17A/B - up/down bank: He hesitated again on the way to the bank, but then moved on. He had no issues with jumping up, one stride, jumping off.
Fence 18 - sushi: This was down a hill, a left turn, and the jump was mid-way up an easy hill but sort of in the trees. He felt like he was hesitating again here, like he wasn't sure if we were finished. Maybe it was all the ropes and people?
Fence 19 - down bank into the water: He didn't bat an eye, just lept into the water like he does it all the time.
Fence 20 - very wide table: Soared over it. He's a pegasus.
We were about 15 seconds faster than optimum time, and I was a lot more comfortable with the speed (450 mpm) than the other shows. He wasn't grabby with the bit like he was at EI.
We moved from 8th (21) to 3rd because other people had trouble with cross country.
Then we blew it at show jumping.
He was a little stiff, so I spent warm up focused more on leg yields and counterbend in circles to get him loosened up. I was having trouble with the timing (the class was fast, as it turns out), so I would move him, then walk, then move him, then walk, and he doesn't like that much.
We jumped three of the warm up fences fine (cross rail, vertical, little oxer). Then I thought that I was way ahead of time, so I walked him, but it turns out I was just a rider away, so I did the big oxer, and he rubbed it a bit.
John got there just as we were about to go in, and he said to ride him assertively, not wait for him to do stuff.
Coming in: he looked at the fences; I tried to let him see a bunch of them.
Fence 1: Brown oxer; fine.
Fence 2: Wishing well. Rail.
Fence 3: White vertical; puked?
Fence 4: Big Aspen oxer; scramble because of puke on 3?
Fence 5A/B: Tribal fence; fine.
Fence 6: Halt cancer, yuck. I don't know what happened, but the line was wrong and we puked over it.
Fence 7: Seattle skyline, yuck. We were scrambling to get back together and I made the angle to the fence wrong.
Fence 8 A/B: Seahawks, meh. I swooped us way out next to the rail to get back together after 7, and then we came in weak. He got us out.
Fence 9: Safari oxer, rail. This seemed like it was going to be fine. John says we got the rail because I saw the distance, but didn't commit to one more half halt, which would have been all we needed.
John said the first rail was just Duke not picking up his feet, but the second rail was his hind leg dragging over from the missing half halt.
We still came in 7th/21 but we would have been 2nd, so I'm disappointed. I guess show jumping is his weakest, which will make me anxious every show because it'll be down to the wire.
I also thought his feet were a little too long (farrier kept them long last time, he's due for a shoeing on Wed, he's been forging a little bit for a couple weeks).
I guess given my distraction with work, this was pretty good for a little 7 year old and doofus me.
Saturday, June 02, 2018
Great dressage lesson
We rode in draw reins today. Duke got pretty sweaty and worked hard.
At first, John had me smack him a couple times on the shoulder, because he wasn't forward. Duke got huffy, but also got very forward.
We worked on a bunch of different circles (20 meter, then 15 meter, then 10 meter, then 12 meter), and then we did leg yield at the trot on the quarter, line, leg yield at the canter on the quarter line, and then a Swedish leg yield (?) which was a leg yield when going across the diagonal.
For the leg yield, we struggled for a big, and then John had me put my inside leg up forward (it felt like it was way in front of me (but I looked down and it wasn't) enough to feel my hip get tight), and then Duke moved over much easier.
This is just day 3 of the horrible 14 day (hopefully only 14 day) with work, so I don't have time for a full blow by blow of the lesson. It was good though. I was really glad to ride, and it was also helpful to drive down there and back because I had some ideas about the case both ways.
At first, John had me smack him a couple times on the shoulder, because he wasn't forward. Duke got huffy, but also got very forward.
We worked on a bunch of different circles (20 meter, then 15 meter, then 10 meter, then 12 meter), and then we did leg yield at the trot on the quarter, line, leg yield at the canter on the quarter line, and then a Swedish leg yield (?) which was a leg yield when going across the diagonal.
For the leg yield, we struggled for a big, and then John had me put my inside leg up forward (it felt like it was way in front of me (but I looked down and it wasn't) enough to feel my hip get tight), and then Duke moved over much easier.
This is just day 3 of the horrible 14 day (hopefully only 14 day) with work, so I don't have time for a full blow by blow of the lesson. It was good though. I was really glad to ride, and it was also helpful to drive down there and back because I had some ideas about the case both ways.
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