Short review on 10 months of dressage lessons – part 2

Last lessons I had before vacation we were working trot/canter and walk/canter transitions to both leads and counter canter. I believe that these exercises will lead me (I hope!) to flying changes … I’m really looking forward to that!

In this exercise I should start the horse from walk to canter to the right or the left lead alternately, just allowing a couple of strides in canter, returning to walk and starting to the other lead, repeating this movement all along the central line.

We also did what I found an easier version of the same exercise that was doing a similar movement, but using the serpentine. So it would be half circle in canter to the right or left lead, two strides at walk in the central line and departing to canter to the other lead.

I really dotn’t know how I managed to finally get a decent riding position at canter… we have been working on it all these months (… probably this was the reason!) but the change from a “crappy” position to a decent one was really sudden… like a “click” on my brain and in my body! I think is the secret is… ride…. ride… ride… don’t give up and have a patient and demanding RI.

This “click” thing also happened in the Sitting Trot, one of the BIGGER THAN I THOUGTH PROBLEMS. However I discovered that this is strongly related with my relaxation capacity… because I usually get much better performances at weekends than when I go ride just after work!

Before I discovered the “joys of the happy canter” I was struggling with the Half Pass (HP)… this is still work in progress for me. We always do it in trot (it was supposed to be easier at trot due to the diagonal nature of this gait) and few times in canter… the canter ones were always better… probably because I just get myself a little “YAHOO” and give the inside rein allowing the horse to move freely.

In trot I tend to (stupidly) hold the inside rein and block the horse’s shoulder and all the forward movement! RI really had to use is head to teach me this HP thing… somewhere in the middle of the process the frustration was starting to be noticeable on his face!... (Probably on my face too!)

Before arriving to HP we did a brief review on the basic lateral movements Leg-Yield (LY) and Shoulder-In (SI). LY was the “piece of cake” of all exercises… and now we are working in getting even more beautiful and flowing LY´s. SI… has some very good moments now and then… but like HP is still work in progress but in a more advanced level. This makes sense… I will never get HP if I can´t SI!!!

All the lateral work had wonderful results on one of my BIG PROBLEMS: the “Lazy leg”… in the beginning I was unable to give the leg aids to the stride… I would do it once and then the leg would stay put (like if my brain stopped working) and the horse would get sleepy to the leg in no time… off course that if I want to ride from the inside leg to the outside rein I must have a “living leg”. This is like wanting to make an omelette without eggs!!!!!

This was massively trained with the lateral work, using lots of transitions between exercises like LY, Turns (T), SI and also Travers and Renvers. It really worked!!!

And just in the Pre-history of my riding lessons we had the “joyful” no-stirrups lessons… really fun to watch… not so fun to ride… but very effective in the results!!!! I still have one of those now and then, for the old times sake!

OK… this review was pretty useful to clear my place on the training scale … tomorrow I will have a lesson after a one month brake (way too long)… and I am so curious to see if I will keep my position! Tomorrow we’ll see!