1st lesson

Last night Trouble and I had our first lesson with Cathy. I was excited and nervous at the same time since I have still been getting to know him and haven't really pushed him outside his comfort zone yet. Wellll, we did a little bit of pushing last night and I think he is going to be a *really* cool horse. He has been here for a week and I just feel like each ride gets better and better and he understands what I want from him. He is accepting the contact better and not being as rude about sticking his nose out "hunter style". He bends around my leg and is softer in the transitions than he was at first.

We started out walking for a few minutes and trying to shorten his steps a bit for a few strides and then softly pushing him out and making his neck longer. We did the same thing at the trot, really concentrating on keeping the outside rein steady and bending him with my inside leg, but also slowing the steps a bit and then pushing him out again. This will help create the "gears" in his gaits, which is the key to adjustability and rideability. I felt like he wanted to get a little quick since I have been letting him go pretty forward trying to stretch his neck down. I need to work on making him sit a little in the trot so he learns to come off his forehand and trot in a better balance. He was also trying to root a bit, so I need to be a little stronger on the outside rein when he does that. We did a little bit of spiraling in and out onto a 10 meter circle and his balance seemed to get better-he felt like he understood where his hind legs were and how to use them independently. Then we did a 4-5 loop serpentine through the whole arena. I felt like the quality of his trot was better and he was really through, but he actually bent better when we were going right than to the left, so that's something else to work on during our daily rides. Next, we cantered on a circle, working on keeping a steady rhythm and using a diamond shape with 4 points to focus on in the circle. I felt like I was losing him to the outside a little and he didn't want to bend and step under, so we spiraled in a little and he was better. He is less comfortable when I'm sitting than when I'm out of the tack, again probably a remnant of being a hunter. Cathy said that my leg is getting a little too far back at times (which is the opposite problem I was having with Roxy...ironic!), so I need to think about letting it hang by the girth and keeping my toe out a little more.

We moved on to jumping a little X with a placing pole, he was forward and happy to jump but landed a bit quick and didn't want to come back right away. We worked on approaching in a slower trot, keeping my shoulder slow at the base and letting him jump up to me. We incorporated a rail on a circle after the X, and he struggled with coming through the turn to the rail, he wanted to drift out off the circle. I think this had a lot to do with his balance and not wanting to sit in the canter and turn correctly. We did this several times, trying to change the turn a little and come off the rail to make a sharper turn and he got better eventually. This is definitely an exercise to practice on my own-he needs to be MUCH sharper off my outside aids so he turns better. Next we cantered to a little vertical, sitting in the tack to keep the canter short. He got quite bold and quick to this...I'm not sure if it was just the fact that he hadn't jumped in a few weeks or since I was sitting and not letting him be on the forehand at the canter. I felt like we were fighting each other a bit on the way to the fence, and then he didn't want to turn quickly afterward. Cathy pointed out that I need to be a lot stronger with my position so he doesn't pull me forward and canter on the forehand. I need to practice sitting the canter and making him wait and collect and turn politely off the outside aids. I was happy that he was forward and wanting to jump, but we also need to come to an understanding about how to approach the jump politely and go away from it quietly :) Cathy and I talked about different bits to try, she is going to find me a jointed happy mouth and I will look through Randi's bits today as well. She was happy with his progress on the flat and said she thinks he is really smart and will figure it all out quickly. I was proud of him for working so hard after having a light week of work!