Last Sunday, I rode Tosh again. T had told me the week before that he is a bit of a chicken, but he was a lot friendlier and less wary of me in his stall. He seemed to remember me. This time, I opted to ride him in the surcingle. When I mounted, I got settled and then held both grabs as she led him off. We both were expecting him to scoot a little, but I didn't even feel that ripple of tension through his back and he walked off normally. So she released us and we walked a couple of laps around before getting down to business.
Like I mentioned in my last post, we've been working on getting my right hand to stay quiet so that my left side can actually do the work it needs to do, because when righty takes over, the whole left side of my body just sits there. So when T asked what I wanted to work on, I said more of the same.
We did a lot of figures, at all 3 gaits. All in all, it was a really great lesson. T commented that my hips were SO much looser and more relaxed so whatever I am doing is definitely working. She said Tosh's gait was swinging and loose and he clearly liked me a lot.
The only blip was when I had a total "Oh sh*t" moment in the left lead canter. For some reason, despite the beautiful, prompt depart from the walk, I just felt like I did NOT have it together. My body got tight, I actually kind of had a death grip on the grabs, I forgot to breathe, and we ended up doing several circles before I finally exhaled and relaxed and imagine that, Tosh slowed down and relaxed, too.
FFS, I need to get out of my own head. For real.
Once we had settled into the stride, T had me thigh release and halt. She basically asked wtf was going on and I was like, I have NO idea. She said, ok, I want you to get a drink if you want one and then relaxed walk to C. At C, pick up your reins for a working walk. Do NOT rush your transition, when you are breathing, soft, and ready, ask for your canter. So, we walked on a long rein to C. I gathered my reins for a working walk and he started prancing a little because I got a little tight, so I exhaled a few times, shook my legs around and softened my hands. He came back to a walk and exhaled. At E, I put both hands on my grabs, but I tried not to change anything else and insisted he keep walking. I kept exhaling deeply, kept reminding my body to relax. We walked almost back to C again before I asked for a left lead canter and all I thought about the entire time was sit up, shoulders back, eyes up, breathe with each stride, relax into it, stay sitting on your seat bones, etc. The depart was perfect. Since I was holding the grabs, I didn't snatch his mouth. We both stayed soft, I kept my body up and back, I remembered to breathe. After 1 lap, she told me to thigh release and halt. Perfect, square, relaxed. She said, that was BEAUTIFUL, we're DONE.
This week, I got to the barn and was surprised to see my initials next to Tosh's name again! Yay! I gathered his brushes, bridle, and running martingale and headed to his stall. I swear he nickered at me...maybe it was Skylar. But I don't think it was. Anyway, in true grey form, he was FILTHY, so it took me longer than normal to clean him up. Then I booted him and took him for his pre-ride drink before heading to the arena to watch for a bit. T was teaching in the outdoor dressage arena, so I chatted with a couple of the girls sitting in the covered. When T came back, she said she was done at 11:30 if I wanted to ride early, but she wasn't rushing me. I was like, sounds good, he's all ready, he's just waiting on me to tack him up.
A few minutes later, I came out to the arena with Tosh in tow, sprayed him with bug spray, tightened everything, stretched his legs and mounted. Once again, he didn't scoot at all. After we had warmed up, she asked what I wanted to work on. I said, well, I can already feel my right hand trying to take over and pull, and my upper body is feeling sore today, I think I slept funny, so I'm not sure what we're working with today. She had me start on a Jacob's ladder pattern, up the rail to the left, sharp left turn to the quarter line and then straight to the opposite end, sharp right turn to centerline at A and straight to C, sharp left turn to quarter line, sharp right turn to the rail tracking right. We repeated it in the opposite direction and halted in front of her.
She asked what was challenging about the exercise. I said, the right turns were HARD, especially because I was trying so hard not to just pull him around with my right hand. She agreed and said, did you notice your left leg coming up and your left shoulder trying to drop to meet it? Well, I noticed the leg, but not the shoulder. Ok, let's try it again and try to keep your left leg long and your shoulders up.
The second time around in both directions was a lot nicer, but the right hand turns were still harder. From there, she had me ride an hour glass figure. So, we did a short diagonal tracking left, from P to S, with a circle at the point where I was changing bend. Then tracking right at S, we did a large circle at C (it was an egg but sure). Then we did a short diagonal from R to V with a circle at the change of bend, track left at V, and large circle at A.
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| Pink line is the Jacob's ladder pattern...if I rode it anything like I drew it, it explains a lot LOL Blue lines are the hour glass pattern |
The circles in the middle were larger at the start and smaller at the end, but I hit my mark of the diagonal line each time. My circle at C tracking right was egg shaped but evenly so. My circle at A tracking left was nearly perfect. Apparently I know what the mechanics of a circle feel like to the left but I'm still grasping at straws to the right. Good to know.
After a break and a lap on a loose rein, she had me pick up a sitting trot tracking left. At E she had me do a large circle (I aim for approximately 20m, she's not being specific really!), another at A, and another at B. Then she had me halt and then we turned to go back and dissect. She asked how the circles had felt, if any of them felt better as a whole or in part. I said, I think the one at A was my best one. I think the 2nd half of my 1st and the 1st half of my 2nd were better. She agreed. We talked about how the mechanics are the same in all of the circles, but even when we reversed and did circles at E, C, and B, we noticed that I am WAY more comfortable circling at A and C than I am at E and B.
After another break, we were going to try the circles to the right again but the struggle was real. Tosh started cantering because he felt like I would be more balanced, and he wasn't wrong. Amazingly, I didn't tighten up, I just kind of reached for the grabs and went with it. We did our 3 circles and they were way better than they had been at the trot. We came back to a walk, and I asked for a trot to try again, this time she had me make him stay at a trot and once I relaxed, it went really well. His stride got longer and he got rounder and softer. After walking a lap, she wanted us to try it one more time, so I picked up my reins and we trotted. Man oh man, I was anticipating those circles so much (wtf brain). My entire body was just screaming, I wasn't breathing, my calves were clamped. Poor Tosh. She finally said, alright, just trot around on the rail until you're both nice and relaxed. Phew. That I can do, apparently.
On our second lap, she said, large circle at C. We did a 20m circle at C tracking right (stronger side on the inside), it was beautiful. It was round, it was large, we didn't dip or dive. She clapped and said, ok, you need the element of surprise, got it. She asked if I wanted to canter to the left and I said, I think we should end there, especially with how hard the left lead was for me last week. So, we called it a day. It was a great ride, very challenging physically and mentally, but not in a bad way.
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