riding Star

As previously mentioned, our weekend plans got all scrambled when Isabel came in from the field lame at the walk. Boo, mare!

Likeliest scenario was an abscess, tho I was mildly concerned when the lameness seemed to switch from one leg to another depending on who was watching, or which direction you turned her. The vet was already scheduled for other horses so Isabel's owner added her to the list in case the shoe needed to come off. Verdict? Not even an abscess, just a bruise. Couple days with bute, and mare will be fine.

I was disappointed to miss the OF lesson considering it was possibly the last outdoors ride of the season, but them's the breaks. The disappointment *almost* compounded when I texted dressage trainer C to bow out of our scheduled lesson too, until she replied offering her own horse. Um, yes thank you, that sounds great!

hard to tell who looks more skeptical lol

Star is a ~17yr old 14.3hh Dutch warmblood with some draft, meaning that altho she and Isabel are the same height, she's substantially more built. She also has some typical WB bounciness, with a lot more movement across her back than I'm accustomed to with Isabel.

Riding-wise, Star competed through 2nd level, tho she has changes and perhaps some other 3rd level movements. Interestingly, C said the mare never scored well in tests, even when everything felt great, tho she has produced a very nice baby.

So anyways. I rode this mare in my lesson. And it was enlightening. As far as mares go, she has very similar mannerisms to Isabel. A bit aloof, and requires her rider to *commit.* She's also wayyyyy more educated and trained than Isabel (obvi), and it provided the perfect opportunity to let some of my flaws really shine. Ha.

looking marginally proficient at the trot (all in pink, natch)

My points of interest:

• Needed shorter reins - I was overthinking C's warning that Star will go up if the rider gets too handsy, and reverted to the exact opposite of not enough contact.
• Contact needed to be even and steady in both reins; get the mare filling both reins up. 
• When mare goes inverted (happened often), carry hands lower and wider (with commitment) until she went round again, then soften both hand AND leg (Star has her own engine, no nagging, please Emma).
• Star's turning radius is wider than Isabel's - I needed to steer more from the shoulder.
• Star's rhythm depends on my post - post slower or faster and she responds accordingly.

getting absolutely tossed about in the tack (no i will not give you a gif, thankyouvermuch) at the lengthened trot

• Hahahahahaha lengthened trot... hahahaha... and I thought I couldn't post Isabel's lengthenings.... hahahahahahahahahaha.
• Oooh and we did sitting trot too (with even more laughter)... As it is now, I can't focus on my seat, legs, and hands all simultaneously. Goals: back needs to be flatter, with hips swinging up. Butt doesn't bounce, but crotch does. Should feel like a hinge at the belly button, hips flip up every stride. And need to push down into feet every stride. Oh and Star stops if you squeeze your thighs so no gripping! 
• We did the sitting trot as a set up for the canter transition - Star requires very precise timing for this transition, and I totally biffed it a whole bunch for the left lead but nailed it for the right lead. Yay me!?

canter transition FAIL

• It was very apparent how badly I struggle to apply my weight correctly - to step *down* into the side I want to weight. Honestly it took most of the lesson to figure out the right feeling. My tendency is to weight the wrong side.... as discovered last year in the clinic with Grant Schneidman... (yup still a problem). 
• Same idea carries into leg yields - my weight needs to be down the inside, not outside, with a half halt on outside. 
• And SAME IDEA into shoulder in - omg I seriously thought I would die of exhaustion. We did maybe 7-8 laps of the entire full size dressage court, working for true shoulder in down each and every long side.... fail sauce lol.
• Cue was to bring her around my inside leg (with weight down that inside leg), and my outside elbow back and outside thigh on. Also needed to be WAY less reliant on inside hand, and point my stomach toward the centerline. Think: 'ride the angle of a 10m circle down the long side.' 
• Once I finally managed to put all my body parts in the right place tho, we were actually able to turn it directly into a half pass. So that was kinda cool (I'd never ridden a half pass before).

no video of successful shoulder in or half pass (Brita had to go get ready for her lesson) so hear's another canter pic

So. Star. She's pretty cool. Similar enough to Isabel that I feel good about rehashing most of these takeaways with the red mare. But, more importantly, she helped me figure out just how much my own positional issues are impeding Isabel's ability to do the things I want her to do.

This lesson was empowering in other ways too: Trainer C sorta just told me to go ride sitting trot and shoulder in and half pass. No big build up or explanation, just 'go do it.' Then I did it and kinda failed, but from there C could tell me, 'ok fix this' or 'add that,' and combined with sheer repetition, I could actually feel my limbs going where they needed to be.

It's easy enough to say "put your elbow here" or "move your hip thusly," to lecture on the technical intricacies of position. But if I never actually *feel* it in action, I'll never figure it out. So I kinda like that C just says - "Go do such and such" then refines it from there. So far it's working for me!