more activity pls!

It's hard to tell whether this will be a regular thing or not (esp with winter and dark nights coming in fast...), but for now I'm enjoying these sporadic lessons with upper level event rider Molly.

She's getting a better grip on what Charlie and I do and don't know, and what we do and don't want from our rides. In particular, she was momentarily surprised when I told her we'd ridden 1-3 after our last lesson with her, and that it had gone well. I say "momentarily," tho, bc it seemed like she absorbed that information and immediately set about dialing up her focus on our basics. 

Today's "basic"? Activity. Every judge ever in the whole wide world who has seen Charlie go, has made at least one remark or comment about "Needs more activity." Plenty of trainers have said as much to me too. But.... How? 

For this lesson, Molly actually got us there through a series of efficient and practical exercises, paired with well-timed coaching. And it was great!! Really really a super lesson, with some really incredible feeling work from Charlie. Mostly what I need to remember are the feelings from this ride, so here are the exercises and steps we used to get there: 

looking confused at that weird thing on the floor outside the feed shed...

- 10 / 10 Exercise: 10 steps walk, 10 steps trot, rinse repeat. Forever. Admittedly I was not suuuuuuper precise about exactly "10" for each, and would sacrifice a couple extra steps to get a nicer feeling. Importantly, Molly coached me to use this exercise to slowly shorten the reins and bring the frame in with each transition. 

- 20m Square. Done in conjunction with the 10/10. Basically. Square turns, and again, and again. Forever. More or less on 20m-ish. But like, again, not super exact. Our purpose was the turns, specifically: preparing for them. And once we moved on to full trot (vs constant transitions), the idea was to feel like we were going to walk going into the turn. For Charlie, this meant actually walking some of the times. But that's fine -- that's good, that's the process. 

lol, wait a second...

- Slow. Slowwwerrrrr. Think, Dan C level slowness. Bc guys --- this was probably the closest I've ever come to taking a lesson with Dan... from someone not named Dan. Molly was on that exact same wavelength, which was cool bc I've always suspected this type of approach suits Charlie better than constantly chasing him forward. The slowness really helps Charlie develop his full power in the gaits, without losing balance out the front.

- Level 2 Bands: Oooh, and I was back in the resistance bands this time. She called these bands (they were purple) the "Level 2" bands, and they were a bit stiffer than what I've worn before. Molly first articulated each leg's various joints (esp around the ankle and hip) to ensure I was more or less loose, then belted me in. And yea, I was seriously belted in, from which I could sit virtually ALL the trot in this lesson, which itself was mostly in trot. Something I've NEVER done before. The bands plus how we got Charlie going tho.... It felt like butter. 

it's just mikey!! doin normal mikey things haha

Anyway. Forever and ever with the square turns, and the slow. And the idea to "think about walking into the turn, but don't walk." We got to a point where I could add inside leg (but not clinging!) and really feel that bouncy cadence from Charlie. Who, it should be noted, worked his tail off for this ride -- what a trooper! 

And what an incredible feeling! It was hard keeping track of all my various body parts -- where are my arms (Molly wanted me to bring my inside hand closer to Charlie's neck)? Was I sitting up tall and straight -- but soft? Was my lower back and seat relaxed and following, or braced? Were my legs drifting backward or staying at the girth?

So much to think about, but Charlie and I were able to find those moments of good feelings more and more often, and stay there a little longer each time. 

dusk comes earlier every night

Canter was a bit tougher. Our pattern was: while still on our 20m square, do a 10m circle in trot at X. Slowwww. Jiggity jog. But bouncy. Then proceed around the square back to A, and repeat. Coming off that second 10m circle, canter. Not a big motion, not a big aid, not a big swing or anything. Just.... canter. Maintaining more or less the same speed we were already trotting. 

This was... Yea, hard. We already know I wanna make big moves into canter. Plus I always kinda wanna chase Charlie in his first few shaky steps -- like, yes keep going Sir! So we ended up breaking a couple times, at which point Molly insisted we stay calm and immediately slowwwww down again. Nbd, it's ok to lose balance, but always ALWAYS reestablish that slowness again. (Again, the Dan vibe in this lesson was so strong, I loved it). 

It was also interesting how I definitely telegraphed to Charlie what we were about to do, bc our second 10m circle always lost rhythm and slowness as I anticipated asking for canter....

we've been treated to some gorgeously dramatic skies tho <3

Another interesting takeaway was that... Charlie hit our "struggle point" in this ride -- the inflection point where a ride shifts from kinda leggin' him on (warm up), to self carriage (the happy place), to suddenly plowing down into the bridle dragging me forward (tired). 

I kinda try to avoid that feeling, bc it feels like the point of no return -- where we probably aren't getting any more quality and risk devolving into a pulling match. I actually pointed it out to Molly when I felt the change in Charlie, saying "This is the feeling where we really struggle, when he just bears down into the bridle and flattens."

But then, suddenly, it passed. It was over. Charlie pulled up his big boy britches, and kept trying even through his tiredness. THIS, folks, is the difference (for me, at least) with being coached through the moment. And also, the reason why I'm not likely to repeat a ride like this on my own, and why I haven't pushed certain limits this past year during our solo adventures. 

ya know, it ain't bad haha

Charlie is a good boy and will do the things when I work for them. It's enough to know that -- I don't feel like we need to have this exact ride every single day. The lessons are there, the training is there. The horse is prepared to respond correctly to correct aids. 

And we can achieve those feelings together, albeit to slightly lesser degrees, in our solo work. It's just up to me to not muddy the waters too much, and especially to avoid the risk of souring the horse or getting him really backward in the bridle again by practicing some of this stuff poorly, ya know? 

All the same, what a good feeling. AND, even better? Charlie came out for our next couple rides feeling really fresh and happy in an energetic forward balance. I'm not sure when the next lesson might happen, but we've got at least one or two more judged dressage tests to ride this season (hopefully!) so I'm excited to keep chipping away.