Progression....

Well Mr. Trouble continues to impress me....he has become a lot more settled and every ride seems better than the last. I have played around with bits and found that he goes well in a french link boucher for now. He still chomps it more than I'd like but he also listens and doesn't brace against it so we will keep it for the time being. I must say that he has been really good about retaining what I've been asking him for from ride to ride. He has become a lot more supple and accepting of the bit, and his transitions are getting smoother and less hurried. He does root the rein a little if I'm not paying attention and keeping the outside rein steady enough, so this has made me be really conscious of keeping my reins tidy!

I got to audit/volunteer at the Leslie Law clinic over the weekend and I was super impressed with him. He was very systematic with each pair and emphasized staying "with" the horse instead of against it. He also sat on just about every horse and was able to demonstrate what he was talking about. The man can certainly ride anything and make it fantastic! I loved how he sat around the horse yet kept the angle in his elbow to soft effective hands. He stressed that the quality of the canter is the most important thing and that the horses must take responsibility for the jump if you set up the correct canter. He also said that we should strive to keep the same speed that we plan to jump the fence at through the corner as well as the approach to the fence (i.e. don't change the canter after the turn). I loved the exercise that had 3 canter rails 9 feet apart to a vertical with a rolled out groundline. It made all the horses find the correct canter without the rider fussing at them before the fence. The repitition of this exercise helped most of the horses jump better.

So back to Trouble...I felt like the 32cm Prestige of Cathy's was a little too narrow for him as it was sliding a bit in our lesson last week, so I tried Nora's Kieffer again with a fleeceworks pad and it fit well. I rode him in it and he was a lot looser and happy to go forward. I really liked the feeling of riding him in dressage tack because I could get more of my leg on him and he listened a lot better to my half halts. Once he is supple and forward he just floats and is so easy to ride! Hopefully I am not jinxing us by writing this, but I think he's going to be pretty competitive on the flat if we keep progressing in this fashion. I had a lightbulb moment in the canter when I thought of "sitting on his back feet" to help him sit and lighten his front end - it worked wonders for his balance! He could only hold it for a few strides, but the understanding was definitely there!

We had our 2nd jumping lesson on Tuesday, and it was MUCH better than the first one. I rode him in Kari's Pessoa that she is loaning me, and it seemed to fit him well with the fleeceworks and I was comfortable riding in it. We started out with flatwork again, and Cathy commented that he looked a lot better and was smart about listening to my aids. We worked on a few spiral circles at the trot and he did them well. Then we came across the diagonal and I asked him to move his hind feet towards the wall. This helped him understand that he can move his hind feet independently from his front feet. His canter transitions were a lot better and we worked on collecting him for a few strides and then letting him lengthen and drop his neck a bit. Cathy emphasized that we don't want him to think that we will always make him collect, but that he is allowed to go forward in a balance when I say so. Next we worked through a little grid, starting with a placing pole to an X with a pole on the backside. I kept his trot balanced and slow on the approach and he jumped it really well. We would circle afterwards and he picked up the wrong lead the first 2 times, but the 3rd time through I was able to open my left rein and he landed correctly. Next we added a vertical one stride away, keeping the placing pole in the middle of the 2 fences. He looked a little but I softly closed my leg and he jumped quietly but with his knees to his eyeballs! We did this a few times, and the balance of his circles on the backside improved. Then Cathy made it an oxer and he jumped it well. I felt like I was in a good balance with him and kept my shoulder slow and my lower leg supportive. I need to remember to sit in the back of the saddle after we land to bring his canter back to a good balance, he sometimes pulls me forward and then gets on the forehand. Lastly we came off a right lead canter to an X with flowers on both sides, he jumped it big the first time but not stupidly, the next time around he jumped it right out of stride. He felt a little tired at this point so the canter balance was a little bit of a struggle, but I think once he is stronger it will be a piece of cake.

My ride the following day his canter already felt more balanced, like he remembered our lesson! I let him canter through some poles and he did it well. I am thinking that I'll alternate dressage days with jumping tack/pole exercises so he can continue to think about his balance in relation to poles even if we aren't jumping.

More soon!!