lots'o lessons

One of my biggest goals in getting a young horse at this particular moment in my riding life is to get back to feeling like I'm learning, growing, developing as a rider. 

Which, I'm not gonna lie, is actually pretty hard for me. People who know me know that I can be a little micro, a little controlling, I like to do things the way I do them for real reasons that generally suit me and my horses just fine. 

So, stepping back, ceding control, letting myself be vulnerable in trying to change the way I go.... ya know, that's challenging. It feels a little exposed. But it's also exhilarating to feel little moments of breakthrough after years of "bad" habits.

she's not standing straight from nose to tail, but is kinda square in her body and is looking more grown!! 
also, everybody say "Hai!" to my ancient Bates dressage saddle from the Isabel days lol

We've since had two more lessons with resident dressage trainer MP. I've kinda been stacking them right on top of each other bc it feels like we're working on important fundamental stuff that can only benefit from supervision and real time coaching.

In my experience with various trainers, clinicians, instructors, what have you, it seems like everyone has a slightly different way of introducing and prioritizing the work. With Charlie, and dressage trainer C, our earliest fundamentals revolved around getting him forward and in front of the leg, and getting his big giant earthbound shoulders up and out of the way. 

lol stella trotting in like she never misses a meal!

Doozy is obviously (and intentionally) a pretty different type from Charlie, and MP is putting our pieces together starting with bridle contact as priority #1. But, from her world view, bridle contact is itself almost entirely a function of rider posture. 

ok. lesson time. be nice bc we are both working very hard on changing our posture and it's going to take time. also i'm in the Beval jump saddle in all these pics

Our last couple lessons were basically all about taking my position apart and putting it back together again. And a lot of what she's telling me is basically exactly opposite from how I've been riding the last few years.... so it's taking a lot of repetition and real time feedback to start to make the changes. 

she's concentrating so hard <3 <3

With each new lesson, tho, I'm getting a better understanding of what it all means. She wants me to 'stabilize my elbows,' which basically means to engage my triceps and feel the place in my back between my shoulder blades --- not pinch my elbows at my side. 

'Suppling my wrists' means a swift (but soft!) rotation from the elbow to basically release tension or rigidity from my arm while staying connected to the bit.  

somehow still manages to make her wispy thin tail look majestic

That all got a lot easier in our third lesson (yesterday, no pics sorry!) when I swapped the Beval jump saddle for my old Bates dressage saddle. It was much easier to keep my legs down under me (and on the horse), to support the more stabilized upper body. Which, ya know. Duh. 

pretty sure there's a big future horse in here somewhere

Right now, MP perceives that Doozy prefers to lean on her right shoulder. We tend to fall in toward the right, while counter bending left. A lot of my work in getting her straight will, for now, revolve around bringing Doozy's right nostril toward her right shoulder. 

And to do this, I need to keep thinking about my right elbow and right leg (regardless of which direction we're tracking), like I'm putting money in my pocket. 

managed to find a micro moment when my legs are under me so i can sit up lol

MP called me a bit 'wishy washy,' too. Like I'm a bit too much in the middle of the road. Which like, yea, fair, I don't really trust myself with a lot of contact bc I kinda feel a bit like I suck and have bad hands haha. But... ya know.... Again, see the first sentence of this post: Doozy and MP are here with me in this moment to help facilitate exactly this education. 

not gonna lie, it was seriously challenging to try to do the poles without either of us loosing our posture

MP's approach in this moment of our training is for me to bend Doozy to the right, sometimes a little exaggerated if needed, until she gives and releases with her neck. At which point I need to *not* just soften and release everything and turn to jello (lol), but actually be there to support with the left rein and both legs. 

it's easier to see in the video, but pics like this are why MP hates this new saddle, whoops lol

We had a few reeeeeally nice moments at the end of our third lesson (yesterday, again sorry not to have pics!) where I felt like I had a little bit of a breakthrough with my hands. 

MP wants me to hold the reins basically with my thumbs, with the rest of my fingers closed but soft. Which... again, is a little bit opposite from how I've held the reins for... uh, ever, lol.... Apparently I typically hold more with my ring finger... so it's taking intentional concentration to change that. But I also need to feel almost like I'm holding the bit at the corners of Doozy's mouth -- vs feeling like I'm just holding two rubber reins.

link to quick clip from our lesson over the weekend

Anyway. I was seriously on the fence about sharing the video above bc it's so easy to be critical and see how much work and change needs to happen. But, eh, that's riding, right? Ultimately, I'd rather have the complete record vs only just the best snapshots. 

Tho, it's really pretty crazy to me watching how I look in this saddle with the posture MP is trying to effect in me, vs how I look (and feel!) when I'm just out doin my normal thang. So, eh, for now we'll stick to the dressage saddle unless jumping is on the agenda. 

meanwhile, my old Bates is quite literally unsellable (at least, not without repairs like replacing those dry rotted billets). but, i've always been fond of its neutral geometry and adjustability

Another thing worth mentioning, kinda separate from the lessons themselves: It finally happened that we arrived at the indoor while bff Stella was already in there riding. Which, obvi I knew bc I'd seen her and her person down in the barn and we'd chatted etc. We knew it'd be hard if I got there before they finished, and then had to watch them leave.... But also, ya know, that's life. 

Like, our farm is the sort of place that, at 11am on a Tuesday, there might legit be 3 different horses in the indoor -- us for our lesson, C doing a schooling ride with Stella, and another boarder lunging her own young horse. 

also got fancy new wide stirrup leathers in a black friday sale from Millbrook Leathers. right now they're on the dressage saddle with my similarly ancient Izzy-era Compositi 'irons,' but eventually some of my nicer irons will get shuffled around onto these leathers

And Doozy was significantly unsettled and upset about Stella being there. Like, by far the worst she's ever been with ring company. But Stella left and eventually... Doozy coped. 

Then she continued coping while we did our lesson in one end of the ring while the other young horse lunged. Then she melted down a little again when that horse left.... But eventually she coped some more and we finished our lesson with actually legitimately nice trot work. 

Millbrook Leathers threw in a really cute USG-knockoff belt as a gift with purchase too!! i love these stretchy woven belts and have a few from USG already

She is for sure going to be a more difficult management case at shows and in warm up rings. I don't think she'll ever be like Charlie was. But I'm also seriously impressed with her (eventual) willingness to cope and relax again even after being pretttty worked up. 

good girl, Dooz, see ya later!

So. Lots of long details in one mega post.... But it's so helpful for me to write it all out and try to commit a least to mind if not muscle memory (yet lol)!