friday foto finish: more dressage

Happy Friday, folks! Things are quieting down a little bit around here after what felt like a sudden onslaught of activities all at once haha. Funny how the calendar works sometimes…

first trot of the lesson!

I actually wasn’t even originally planning on going to the Thornridge show, and certainly didn’t initially think jumping a round would be in the cards… But other plans moved around, and then Doozy was immediately such a princess about jumping again that, ya know, why not, let’s do it!

little ms sensible <3

But we’re back to our regularly scheduled programming now, which, in this case, means another dressage lesson with trainer C! Natch, accompanied by my new favorite toy, the pivo! 

Which I set up in the corner this time since it occasionally lost us in the corners when it was set at C in our last lesson. Unfortunately I chose the corner by the in-gate, so we missed a chunk of work at the end when the next horse joined the ring. Nbd but next time I’ll try the opposite corner.

warming up with leg yields!

Anyway, obvi I love using these lessons to prepare for events and all that, but it’s also equally nice to show up and be able to tell trainer C to “have your way with us!”

change directions, rinse, repeat!

Which, in this case, meant trainer C wanted us to play around with first level stuff, eventually putting together the pieces of 1-2. Exciting!! 

In her view, when Doozy is relaxed and engaged in the work, she basically already has all the requirements for the level, and is maybe similar to how Isabel was in that the harder and more demanding the tests get, the more interested Doozy becomes.

learning to find power in balance

Tho, realistically, that’s also probably a function of that Brett Parbery quote I shared last week, about how “exercises are for people, aids are for horses.” Meaning, perhaps, that as the tests get more demanding **for me,** then subsequently **I** do a better job of being clear crisp and correct in my aids to Doozy, who then naturally goes better and better.

started playing with lengthening the trot, v exciting for dooz!

Obvi it’s useful to understand the mechanics of why a good ride is good lol, bc understanding that makes it reproducible, right? But… more fundamentally, it’s also just plain fun to have good rides where everything feels connected and flowing. 

leg yielding from center line

And Doozy seems like a total junkie for that feeling too — she loves being a good girl, loves getting the answers right. And it seems like the more good rides we stack on top of each other, the happier and more relaxed and more confident she gets in the work. 

lots of canter this lesson!

So anyway the whole video is included below with all the main exercises we did and obvi all trainer C’s coaching through each movement. Probably mostly just interesting to me, but there’s some generally universal stuff in there for anybody looking for nuggets of wisdom. 

my 15m canter circle geometry was shockingly pitiful lol

We warmed up right away with leg yields from the quarter line, and trainer C wanted me to be clear and consistent from the word ‘go’ about correct inside bend. Which, at times for Doozy, can almost look a little like shoulder fore, with her nose a bit to the inside of her chest center. 

princess was so good i kept being wayyy too early for our canter-trot transitions over X

Lots of alternating between circles and leg yields, always looking to solidify and confirm the correct bend through the movements (ie, using the pattern to get Emma to deliver more consistent aids to the horse). And, this was **finally** the day when trainer C had us start pushing the trot out more on our diagonal changes of direction!! 

we repeated both directions of the canter work but alas, pivo got distracted when a handsome gray pony joined the ring

We hadn’t really gone there yet with Doozy bc it’s been such a journey to get her to balance and contain herself in a working trot, vs sorta unspooling out the front end… But something tells me Doozy’s gonna eventually love her lengthening and extensions LOL.

actual visual representation of pivo being truly torn

Anyway, the canter pattern in the 1-2 test was pretty good for us too. It’s a fair amount of canter, with long sides and 15m circles, and cantering across the diagonal to trot at X, then immediately pick the canter back up again in the next corner on the new lead. 

in the end, tho, it stuck with us <3

All of that wanted me to be a LOT more clear and prepared in my seat and aids. The 15m circles, for example, went best when I really concentrated on pushing into my seat bones, while also feeling both legs long, pushing the balls of my feet in each stirrup. 

The canter transitions… Honestly that was maybe the most interesting feeling. For so long, Doozy’s aid to canter was almost the *absence* of an aid. Like, you just stopped holding her and off she went! Now that she’s actually like, steady and on the aids and relaxing in the work, I actually have to be a little more proactive in preparing her for the transition.

basically the full lesson, trimmed of walk (and pivo) breaks

We never quite nailed the feeling in this lesson, my up transitions were always late and a bit shuffle-y. But now that I understand the pattern better, I think it’ll be a good one for us to practice to help me refine my own positioning. So long as I keep riding forward into it, tho, Doozy seems happy to go — compared to that little phase we went thru last year when I got too backwards and she was kicking out into her transitions. 

sweet doozy, best of biscuits

So yea, a good lesson for a lot of reasons. Super gratifying and honestly legitimately exciting to have trainer C tell us she thought we should be doing more first level stuff too. 

I’d like to find more opportunities to get out to just do dressage tests at shows, mostly bc the repetition seems to helpful for Doozy, and not having impending jumping phases helps me focus and be more intentional… But we’ll see what the calendar holds. 

Fall is my favorite season for riding and activities, and I’m so relieved and grateful to have Doozy coming back into action for it!