Another Summer Update!

Hi guys! I hope all of you are having fun riding this summer. I've still been taking weekly riding lessons at Mary's barn, and it's been fantastic to ride all of her different horses. I got to ride an I2 horse twice when his owner was on vacation, which was fun but very difficult! Just collecting that horse's canter enough to do quarter and half pirouettes was exhausting. I think I need to start incorporating some workouts at the gym into my week . . . I've also ridden some young horses for Mary, which is a different kind of fun. I introduced leg-yield and shoulder-in to one gelding for the first time, and it was so interesting to feel him try to figure out what I was asking. He is a smart guy and picked it up pretty quickly! :) I'm also riding at my friend's barn once or twice a week, and I've had some great rides on her Hanoverian mare and her little Canadian pony. I got to do a clinic with Verne Batchelder last month, which was very informative. I might clinic with him again in two weeks if I can get time off from work. I also audited the Linda Zang clinic at Mary's barn earlier this summer and she was amazing! I would love to ride with her some day. Anyway, I'll see all of you in September and I hope everyone is having a good summer. :)

Summer Update

Hi, I just wanted to post a quick update about my riding so far this summer! I'm back to taking lessons at Mary's, and although the horse I normally ride is on stall rest for a while with a tendon injury, one of the women at the barn has generously allowed me to use her 11 year old Hanoverian mare in my lessons. She's trained through 3rd, so we are having a lot of fun playing with half-passes and working on improving the quality of her walk-canter-walk transitions. Mary also has a 4 year old Lusitano that I may ride this summer if the Hanoverian is not available. I'm also working to ride once or twice a week for a trainer that I know, and I'm basically just riding whoever she tells me to ride! I'm actually heading over to the barn right now before I have to go work at my "real" job this afternoon, so I'll post a longer update later. I hope everyone is having a great summer!

Week of March 30th-April 6th

On Monday, I had a lesson on Joey for the first time. I really enjoyed riding him, and we practiced the First 2 test. He seemed to be in a pretty good mood, which is great because I've heard about his antics when he has a bad day! I learned that I needed to really ride him into the corners to balance him during the test to set up the next movement and to work on accuracy of transitions in order to score better.
On Thursday, I had a practice ride and rode Riley in preparation for the home show. He seemed stiff at the beginning and I had trouble getting him to really stretch through his back and relax. However, after about half an hour of transitions to get him more forward and lots of lateral work, especially at the canter, he finally became supple and his trot was much easier to sit.

Week of March 24-30

On Monday, I had a lesson and rode Fritz. We did some collected canter work, which was fun because I didn't know he could "sit" that much! We also ran through my First 1 test, and I was shocked about how quickly the movements came up in the small ring. I've shown First level a few times before, but it was always in a full size ring. I struggled with getting all of my transitions on time, but it was good to practice at least once before the show.
On Thursday, I had a practice ride and rode Fievel. I love him because he's a challenge, and after about 20 minutes he was really soft and supple. I've found that although his canter work can be hard and I have to be careful with my position, it helps him work through his back and improves the trot work. I was still really nervous about my test on Saturday, so I tried to practice some of the movements even though the arena was pretty busy. By the end, I was quite happy with the connection and his responsiveness to my seat.

Riding: Week of the 17th

Monday - I rode Pico in my lesson, which was an interesting experience! He was a pretty good boy until he started getting tired and didn't want to participate any more. Then we got some "airs above the ground" that gave me my adrenaline rush for the day! Overall, we just worked on getting him to stretch and relax at the walk, trot, and canter. I did some shoulder-in and haunches-in at the walk and trot to see if I could get him more supple, especially because he wanted to be stiff and hang on the right rein. I think it was a good learning experience for me, and it made me more confident that I can handle some of the antics that future horses might pull!
Thursday - I went to the barn with Rita in the morning and rode Asti. I could feel that he was still a little stiff from his spring shots, especially to the left. He seemed a bit resistant to bending that way, so I didn't push it and instead let him stay relatively straight and played with a little counter-bending just to make sure he was still soft. We did a bunch of lateral movements at the walk and trot, and we did just a little bit of canter because he was starting to get tired and I didn't want him getting all sweaty. For the first canter depart in each direction, he did the "scooby-doo" thing that Bryn talks about, which was pretty funny because he's such a little guy. Afterwards, he settled right into the canter and we worked on a few transitions and 20 meter circles before ending the ride.

Second Week of Break

I rode twice these week in two lessons with Mary at home. On Sunday I rode her horse, Mason, and we did a lot of half-pass and shoulder-in work to improve his willingness to bend and be supple. We also did flying changes work because both of us think it's fun! On Friday, I rode a horse that Mary has in training called Rowan. He was a sweetheart, and we worked on improving the quality of his gaits and my position. We also did a bunch of canter-walk and walk-canter work.

First Week of March

Hi, I'm not sure if we should still do these posts over vacation? I forgot to submit mine last night, sorry! I rode this week with Mary and we worked on my tests, especially the geometry! I'm headed out to another lesson right now. I hope everyone is having a good break!