It's Not Where You Start

 My weekend away got me all inspired to ride more. I had some really good rides last week (in between the rain). Every good ride feels like a nice little check in my confidence column.  With the weather looking to be good for Saturday so I made plans for a morning lesson. Unfortunately I was unable to ride Wednesday and Thursday (god, will it ever stop raining?). Normally I would be worried about that but I wan't really. Julia's sister, Dominique came to watch and then to ride Irish after. 

Carmen was a bit tight getting ready but we worked through it with our groundwork. When I mounted I looked over and saw Irish sleeping in the paddock but his hind end was dangerously close to the fence. I always sit for a about 30-60 seconds before walking off. I just turned away with a plan to ask Dominique to shoo him away from the fence when he must have hit it. I say that because there was a big kerfuffle in the paddock behind us and Carmen spooked. 

screen grab from my pivo video

got her back and we turned around. Irish was looking around wildly, 

Irish: something bit me on my butt!'

Carmen: oh my god do you see it? 

Irish: no, it must be hiding around here! 

So of course Carmen was convinced that there was a monster lurking up by C. Normally I would have dismounted done more ground work and while having the sinking feeling that my lesson was going to be a disaster.  But I knew I had tools and so I decided to keep riding and work her through it. And she did okay. 

When Jane came we talked about our past rides and how today started. Jane had us just walking around and getting her to slow down. When Carmen gets tight she will walk with fast, short, choppy strides. I was to slow down the front end and ask the hind end to step under more. This has been hard for Carmen and I. She wants to go faster and I feel like that is better so we both think we're right. Turns out we're wrong. 

But the three of us worked together and things began to get better. 

The biggest issue with this is that when Carmen gets worried like this I get overly reliant on the inside hand. It's a very hard habit to break. Mostly because I'm not in control of it- the part of my brain that is responsible for self-preservation takes over and it does not really want to listen to other arguments. I tell you this so you don't feel the need to write to me about how I need to cut off my left hand- trust me I know. 

evidence of rogue left hand

We moved into trot and it was, predictably, not great. 

but pretty horse, right? 

Again, we were fast and choppy. Putting my leg on without capturing the front just leads to fastness, not throughness. Jane had us do this really cool exercise- shoulder in, straighten and then lengthen stride. It required some carefulness with my aids. Of course when I straightened and asked for lengthen I ended up pushing her on the forehand and faster. 

So then Jane told me to lengthen in 'slow motion' which really helped me to conceptualise it. Bit by bit we kept getting better and more and more in sync. Here's some video if you like. 

*Side note: I'm loving my Pivo for capturing every moment of my lesson. It's working really well and it's really helping me to see things. But going through it for clips and photos takes some time. 

I honestly would have been happy with ending it there but of course we did not. Jane had us come down to A and put us through our paces with canter. Jane wants the canter cue to be very subtle  and I'm tanking it. Carmen is confused by it and ends up going faster. But we work through it and we will get it. 

My dependence on my inside hand really reared it's ugly head here. I just couldn't let it go. Even when I thought I was, when I look at the video I see that I am not. Sigh. Why is riding so hard? Anyway, we were going up and down and then Jane said 'put both reins in your outside hand'.  And without even hesitating I did.  

And it was like a light went off. Without my inside hand I could focus on using my seat and leg to direct where we went. And Carmen instantly went 'THANK YOU'.  After a few circles and we came back to trot I was beaming. Then I could keep the hand but Jane said every time you think she's not listening to the inside rein soften it'. 

If you want to see a video here you go: 

We ended with some really positive canter work. It was the most relaxed and easy. I can see I'm not as tense or bouncy on her. So it's progress. 

I know I've said this before, but I really am enjoying my lessons. I am being pushed and pushed and sometimes I wonder if I even know how to ride at all. But I kept progressing.  I end up exhausted and wanting more at the same time.  

I love this photo and comparing it to the beginning of the lesson:

I could look a this photo all day

It's not where you start, it's where you finish that matters.