shifting grains of sand

For some reason I've been only really getting 1-3 lessons per month so far this spring, despite technically having standing appointments twice weekly, plus having a third satellite trainer always available for pinch hitting.

I guess it's been nice for my wallet to get a break. Esp with moving imminently, every little dollar helps.... But ya know. I also need a lot of help in the saddle lol. So there's that.

gosh i love coming to this barn tho!

Luckily all the stars aligned this week and I had lessons with all three of my current trainers. You already read about both jump lessons - the grid work + half halt school with trainer K and the bumped up course work (with Charlie's first 3'3!) with trainer P. Much fun was had by all!!

Actually since originally Sunday was supposed to be a show day, I had planned to skip the trainer P jump lesson and do a dressage ride with Trainer C instead.... But with the show postponed we were able to fit in both lessons. Silver linings!

dirty mirror selfies for always and for ever lol

Plus Brita wanted to come too - so we packed both ponies up and headed over to trainer C's farm TM. Home to one of my absolute favorite ever indoor riding arenas. Idk what it is about this place, but it's been magical for every horse I've ever brought here (and there have been a few now).

I expected Charlie to be pretty good for the ride too. Mostly bc he's just been plain old good anyway lately, but also bc he always does a little better off property where his gate sourness issues aren't quite as pronounced.

hey look, it's a trot!

Trainer C hadn't seen him in ages too. Last time was at the end of January. And the time before that was during our deep dark sour patch from mid winter, which I now recognize as being related to saddle fit.

So I was eager to show her what we've been working on and get a little help in honing in on a few issues. Namely, some of my own well-documented positional flaws. And Charlie's general suppleness - particularly in preparation for riding upcoming tests.

yep, still trottin

Trainer C zeroed in pretty quickly on some pieces of the positional puzzle. I've been working really really hard to change how I sit in the saddle since our last lesson, but there's still more that needs to be done.

Like, if you imagine that your pelvis is a bowl filled with water, my tendency is to pitch forward spill water out the front. I'm learning to keep the "bowl" more level, but the hardest moments for me to hold that position are in downward transitions. So that's a biggie that I need to start keeping at top of mind.

i like how happy he looks in these pics

Additionally, my legs - particularly that troublesome right leg - still swing back too far and get stuck gripping on Charlie's sides instead of bumping on and off at the girth.

On top of that, Charlie often wants to fall to the outside so I've gotten baited into riding more strongly off my outside leg (swinging back, natch) than my inside leg. Which isn't exactly correct. Like, Yes. I need the horse to feel straight between my aids: feeling each hind leg coming forward equally into each rein. But... I've gotten into the habit of overriding the outside leg aids. So more attention needed there.

and there's a canter too!

Particularly I need to really remember to keep those legs draped down and around Charlie's belly, imagining clicking my heels together underneath him, with toes pointed forward. Naturally this position comes much more easily when my pelvis is more correctly oriented in the saddle.

Funny how that works, no? Lol...

and even more canter! one day i'll learn to keep my leg underneath myself. one day!

For once, my arms and hands weren't a huge part of the problems this go 'round. Mostly I just need to shorten my reins more (needs less bagging in the outside rein esp!) while also maintaining an elastic bend in my elbow. Esp on a strong horse like Charlie, I don't want to give any appearances of a tug-of-war to the judge during a test, and locked-straight arms are a dead giveaway.

Charlie's also schooled enough at this point that I really can keep my hands closer together - vs the wide set I had adopted when he was so much more green. Trainer C also advised me to be reeeally careful to avoid pulling his head down. Obvi that's kind of a no-brainer, but it always amazes me what kinds of habits sneak in subconsciously when I go too long without a lesson lol.

aww, and still more trotting

Mostly tho, trainer C was pretty happy with how Charlie's developing. While he continued to show some bracing over his topline in this lesson (something we've been dealing with a lot lately), trainer C's opinion was that she preferred him being a little more up in his front end vs the low diving downhill heaviness that was so prevalent in his earliest days.

he's a handsome boy <3

And as always, it's a fine balance between getting him pushing up and forward from his hind end without devolving into running down on the forehand. Esp after the first canter or two, it becomes a lot more difficult to keep Charlie more balanced on his hind end. Just needs more work!

final halt, salute to trainer C lol

Trainer C didn't pick us apart too much in this lesson since we wanted to run through a test in preparation for upcoming events. But the feedback she gave will hopefully provide me with a lot of food for thought in our schooling rides these next few weeks. And. Ya know. Hopefully it won't be five months until my next lesson with her lol.

Our next test won't be about the dressage anyway tho. We'll basically just want to get through the test smoothly enough to do justice to the horse's training, but otherwise won't really be pushing for the top. Honestly the only thing I'll probably care about is actually riding his canter with purpose, bc there's no reason Charlie shouldn't be pulling better scores in his canter work if I would literally just devote one iota of focus to it haha, instead of just cruisin along in passenger mode. #goals lol

Mostly tho it was really reassuring to hear C say that the horse is on the right track. That he's developing correctly and that I basically just need to keep doing what I'm doing, only more. And better. As always lol.

Certainly a better rider would get Charlie there faster than I am. Or would maybe avoid some of the bad habits I know I'm creating within my own ride and in Charlie's way of going. But. Eh. We're getting along well enough these days as far as I can tell. Plus if all else fails, at least he looks good in his new fun faux croc skin brushing boots ;)