Follow up lesson with John - an 8 meter circle!

I had my first weekly weeknight lesson with John in my attempt to get more consistent with my lessons.  It worked really well.  I left work at 3:45, had the tack already in the trailer, and got there at 5:45 and on by 6.  I was off by 7 and home by 8:30, which was just enough time to groom Charlie and park the trailer.  5 more minutes and I could have unloaded the trailer too.
It will be a bit less pleasant on a rainy day (in the dark) but it's doable.

This was my first dressage lesson with John and it was great.  John's style of communication works really well for me.  He's good at describing what Charlie is doing, and precisely how to correct it.  He can not only watch Charlie, but he also watches what I'm doing, and makes the adjustments to me as well. 

We started working on a circle, and then a 10 meter circle (precisely) and then a 10 meter circle at the sitting trot.  The reason to be precise on the dimensions of the circle is so I can feel when Charlie is avoiding - if he is bulging his shoulders out (or in), the circle loses its shape. 

This lesson, like the last one, is still in the gray realm where I can do it while John is talking - and as he describes what is happening, I can begin to associate the feel with what he's describing - but is still a bit out of my grasp to articulate afterwards.

He told me there's two things I need to work on, and I think it was to do a better job with my lower leg contact - "on-off-on-off" when I need it, not "on-squeeze harder-lift heel", and to experiment.  Even if I can't feel that Charlie is stiff in his right jaw, don't just putz around in a circle but try flexing him to the outside for a step or two and see what happens.  He said that the first two days he rode Charlie, he was stubborn, but then he became pliable again.  It's kind of a miracle it only took to the third day with how long Charlie has been able to get away with things with me.

We worked on 10 meter circles, 15 meter circles, and even some 8 meter circles towards the end.  John got spring in Charlie's step, and he also worked on getting him to bend around my leg.  I had to lift my left hand and then use my right leg (going left) NEXT TO THE GIRTH (this part took me a while to catch on to) to - at the trot - get Charlie's right leg to cross over his left (front) leg and start to get that bend.  Charlie is VERY good at acting like he's doing the motion, but evading.  He'll try almost everything he can to avoid actually engaging his back.

It will be interesting to see when his new saddle arrives if that is because he's been working for so long with a saddle that makes his lower ribs hurt, or if it's a long-standing habit and he's never going to have the light bulb go off that he can lift up without it hurting.  I certainly haven't helped him much up to this point, but now the light bulb has gone off for me.

John had me constantly adjusting, and this is the part I can't feel yet.  John could instantly see when Charlie's shoulder would bulge out (or in), or when he'd tilt his head instead of bending, and he'd have me lift a hand, use an inside leg, use an outside leg, use both legs, or use the whip.  It will be SO cool when I can feel that too.

So we did 10 meter trot circles, and then circles around the ring at different spots.  Then we flexed to the outside with a bit of haunches to the outside on a slightly smaller circle, then would go back to normal bend and get some extra oomph.  Then we did canter 10 meter circles, and the same flexion to the outside (but without the legs crossing over in front).  Then we did 8 meter trot circles out to 15 meter circles, and canter on the 15 meter circle.

The art was in the adjustments in between.  John would tell me, for example, to use my inside rein, and then Charlie's shoulder would lift and we could get the springy balanced trot.  But until John would say that I needed to use the outside rein, I wouldn't feel how Charlie was bulging in the shoulder (or leaning on the rein, diving down on the forehand, etc.).

At the end of the lesson, Charlie had a steam wall coming off of him, and I was amazed at how well he did.  It's probably because John just rode him for two weeks, but it was great for me to feel how well he moved and try to get that locked into my muscle memory.  Fingers crossed for many more great lessons.

Also, John noted that my lower leg isn't really that bad once Charlie is going - it's just that tug of war to get him going where I keep squeezing tighter and lifting my heel that is doing me in.  He said Charlie needs to get more responsive to the aids - when I squeeze both legs, he should be surging forward.  It made me feel a lot better.  I've been so worried that I'm ruining Charlie (for so long) that I'm timid about trying new things or using stronger aids (like using my right rein).  This was - like most of my jump lessons have been - very confidence building to trust myself a little more and to ask more of Charlie.  If I wasn't so tired, this post would probably rave on and on and on about how great this lesson felt, even though it was still over my head.  I'm just happy to be continuing to progress and not to have hit as best as I'm going to get yet.

Two weeks with John

Charlie spent two weeks with John while we were on our honeymoon.  John said Charlie doesn't have enough muscle on his topline for the flying changes yet, which was incredibly useful to know (and the same thing - in a way - that Major Beale said).  John also said that he got his right side soft, that he jumps better from that bigger canter, and that we need to improve the puking transitions from canter to trot (what Beth had us work on last time!).
So we worked on the flat on the proper feel for when Charlie is using his back, but honestly, it's a bit out of my grasp.  It is having him connected, and moving forward, but forward first.  John said the lower leg position over fences that I asked him about - after reading too many George Morris jumping clinics in a row on the plane - is because I'm trying to get Charlie to go forward.  It's an incredibly consistent - but improper - lower leg, and I got horrified that I was the worst rider ever and would get one of those "you shouldn't be jumping" critiques if we sent in my photo.
So the exercise to work on at home is canter - trot - lengthen.  Trot should be the same speed as canter, not slowing down.
And then the other exercises are getting his jaw to soften - by flexing to the outside and then squeezes - and once it does, then using both legs to move him forward, in both directions.  That sounds like a simple exercise, but I couldn't totally feel when his jaw softened, which is why poor Charlie has gotten away with it.  It also made Charlie work much harder, so the 30-45 minutes of work was way more "efficient" (for conditioning) than the work I do with him at home (where he hardly breaks a sweat).
It was really, really useful, and it was also helpful to have the time off to reprioritize.  My schedule is so jam packed I wouldn't be able to see John again until March 21 (assuming he's free) so I'm going to try to take evening lessons every Thursday - alternating jumping and flat.