This is why I take lessons

Again, with the not blogging, So I will just recap last weeks lesson. Through the week in my quest to get a light forehand and more engaged haunches I started doing lots of transitions. Which is encouraged in dressage.  Accept I was asking for the almost walk steps and then not asking for enough forward (this is a problem of mine, I think I secretly want to be a Western Pleasure rider) Whin was only too happy to oblige in the teeny tiny steps.

And this is why I take lessons, while I am puttering around the arena patting myself on the back for  doing transitions and  balancing my horse so well (delusions of Grander), My trainer starts yelling at me for doing small steps instead of the big forward ones (reality check). Lesson learned, maybe, tiny steps are not collection even though I am convinced they are.

I also learned that Whin likes to change things up. Often. We ran through second level test 1 (It didn't go as poorly as I thought it might) to see what we need to work on in the next 9 months before next show season.  The longer we went the better she got, My trainer mentioned that Whin does well with change. I started doing this in our work outs. It works. I plan 2 different movements to work on and then I create a sort of pattern intermixing the 2.

Example last Friday.  I worked on canter walk transitions (which are really hard for us at the moment) and leg yield.  I walked asked for canter, cantered asked for walk, and weather it was good or not I then did a leg yield at the trot. Change directions and canter/walk the other way. Whin got much less frustrated, and in the end we accomplished nice canter/walks quicker than if I had just repeated them until they were satisfactory. 

It takes more thinking on my part but  it makes Whin so much happier.

 

All King Edwards Horses Can Make Best Friends