boring basics w/a side of atrophied core

Pretty much all we did this lesson was canter. And canter. And canter. I set the helmet cam up on the fence line to try to collect meaningful bits of information.... but, eh, we get what we get. (and really, what I got was a big heaping dose of the fact that I'm *still* not sitting up straight through my back - my right side collapses like nobody's business.... ugh)

mare really does try

While warming up, Dan had me start to introduce counter canter by riding the long sides, doing a tear-drop shaped loop back to the rail and continuing in counter canter until the corner, where we would transition to trot. Isabel did quite well with this, but it took me a couple passes to realize that the downward transition was just as important as everything else.

Apparently we 'flop' into our downwards, and Dan said Isabel was old enough and schooled enough to be better than that. Well.... um, I'm the only one schooling her and I honestly haven't been working on it. So... my bad? And actually, based on my little analysis (so handy!) the downwards are the best part of our canters so, I guess they can't be that bad. Or maybe they are, but really everything is so bad that they just look better by comparison? Idk haha.

emma siiiiiiit downnnnn!!! 

Whatever the case, he was adamant that all transitions are important always, and we need to work on it.

So we kept working on it (and the canter, always the canter) by doing teeny tiny canter circles as collected as I could possibly get (which involved much tapping of whip to keep Izzy from breaking). Then transition down to trot - except he really actually wanted it to feel like we could go to walk.  I don't think I ever quite got us stepping immediately into the collected trot that he wanted to see... but I maybe understand, at least, and will work on it while schooling.

i love her little marching trot... but this was decidedly NOT what we were supposed to be doing

We kept that same canter through jumping. He had three set up - one across the short end of the arena, and two on the diagonals. Everything started super tiny - cross rails and a maybe 2' vertical. And I was supposed to keep that same exact teeny tiny collected canter and get as close to the base as possible. He didn't exactly want to see chip strides, per se, but in questionable scenarios he wanted us adding in another step rather than leaping from a gappy distance.

she's so super cute tho

It was actually harder than you might think (esp given my penchant for getting a little too close to the base anyway, you'd think I'd nail this kind of exercise!). He kept repeating the whole time we were cantering that I should be thinking of a canter-walk transition. Canter that tiny. Ugh.

Same story when the jumps went up. We would just circle over the end jump for a while, and when I got a couple passes where Isabel understood that she still had to land and get back to that tiny canter, then we could add in the diagonal jumps. And just continuing looping through all three for a little while, always landing and immediately getting back to that tiny canter.

most boring video ever here

This was really surprisingly difficult for us. Would have been easier if I had spurs, but mare still has that rub/bite/whatever and I didn't want to risk opening it back up again. So I jumped with a dressage whip bc I needed *something* to keep the mare cantering when she'd really rather break. Apparently it gets harder for her when she goes slower? 

Also it took so much freakin core to keep the canter together that I literally cramped up in the car ride home and could barely walk from the car to my home. Ugh ouch.... Perhaps that's another thing I need to work on? 

And last on the docket of 'things that need work' would be my position. My entire right side wants to shorten up when I'm working that hard - the leg comes up and the shoulder drops down. I think my left leg curls too, but not nearly to the same degree.

Dan noticed it particularly with my inside leg - it curls up and comes back. He went so far as to draw the above diagram in the sand (tho not quite far enough to shout 'tall straight and hard' at me, which would arguably be more effective). When we're on a circle the haunches need to come in - so if my inside leg is too far back I'm actually blocking the horse from doing the very thing I want it to do. My inside leg must stay down and at the girth. He also recommended carrying the whip in the outside hand for small circle exercises to help reinforce the point.

So yea. Another lesson spent chipping away at the basics. The things that are supposed to be 'easy' but actually kinda suck. Thank god for Isabel tho. She really is such a great horse - even tho she kinda hated this lesson and wanted to quit, she stuck with me when I asked and we were able to end on a really positive note. She's such a good learner too that I have no doubt it'll be easier next time. Fingers crossed!