The wind was howling terribly and the drive there was a little scary, with the wind blowing the horse box and Mark having to hold the steering wheel extremely tight. Thankfully we made it there ok and first up was Ceaser.To begin my instructor asked me what my goals for 2015 are. I told her I want to be picked for the Senior Home International team and this year I want to ride that medium test. What always surprises me is when people then proceed to agree and tell me how I can achieve that goal. It makes you want to achieve it even more. I used to be surrounded by such negative people that would laugh at my dreams and aspirations that I got so accustomed to being told to think of something else instead.
We started off with some simple exercises to get Ceaser warmed up. He felt fantastic right from the beginning and my instructor was very complimentary of how much his trot had improved since the last time she had seen him. We wanted to pay special attention to the lateral work if my ultimate goal was the medium test at some point.
Starting with some shoulder fore for a few paces, then riding straight, then shoulder fore again I was able to catch that hind leg that seems to have a mind of its own. Once I manage to engage it and get it working properly I'm able to get that uphill feeling and appearance.
After we had worked through this we then stepped up to sitting trot for a few paces and asking for the canter, which I've found eliminates the bucking. I don't have the best sitting trot - my core muscles need work - so when I ask for the canter Ceaser tends to hollow making the transition ugly. Thankfully with some work both on his roundness and my core strength, my sitting trot is coming along nicely and he's working much better into that transition. Whilst at university I didn't have many lessons on Ceaser and it was so easy to get into a routine of doing the same thing over and over, it was easy to forget about the important things I wasn't doing, like sitting trot! Something so basic, but something not many of us do much of until we have to and then we find we can't! Once into the canter we had a play with keeping the hands and legs connected to create a nice working but bouncy canter. Up until now the canter has always felt flat and like Ceaser is just ploughing along, but for once I felt like we had elevation, which is a move in the right direction!
We then focused on asking for some collection through the short sides and ensuring I was riding shoulder-fore through the corner, and then down the long side straightening for a few strides, then riding shoulder-fore again and then straightening. If you're struggling with the same things I have been over the years then I really recommend trying these simple exercises, it has worked a treat with Ceaser and finally I feel like I have control of his hind legs, but also the front - everything just seems connected now.
Now all fired up and ready to work we came down into the walk and asked for some 10 metre circles and either upon reaching the quarter line or track asked for canter. It became apparent my circles are shocking and need some work. I'm not sure I multitask well! Thankfully Ceaser got the drift and did all that was asked for him, however slapped wrist for my oblong circles.
Next up was those pesky half passes I seem to struggle with, I can't explain why I struggle but it feels like Ceaser blocks me when I ask for the bend, so we did lots in walk. Because I got the blocked feeling my instructor told me to come across the diagonal and just have a play with changing directions of the leg yield until we reached the end. At the beginning Ceaser did a typical him and did what he thought I wanted, but not actually what I was asking. I find this with him, he can be quite clever and anticipate what's coming up, so it took a few goes to make him realise he needed to listen and wait for instruction. Finally we got a few steps and it was time to finish!
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By this point it was threatening to rain and the wind was getting worse. I asked my instructor if I could quickly throw Ziggy round on the lunge before I got on just to get the fizz out of him, but as ever, he wasn't phased by the wind! When it came to getting on I had worked myself in to a bit of a mess that it was windy and I had never even attempted to ride Ziggy in weather as bad as this. Soon enough it started hailing and I just came to a halt and stood there. After a quick kick up the bum from my instructor I realised he wasn't going to do anything and I needed to start and trust him as much as I do Ceaser.
Once I got myself together things turned out well. We worked on doing some straight lines up the quarter and centrelines to eliminate the fence out of the equation so Ziggy doesn't keep relying on it to balance him. We've started to ask for canter transitions in various places and to my surprise we got all the correct leads first time - which is a huge improvement since before Christmas. Overall both boys were fantastic and once again made me look forward to the 2015 season with them both even more!
Sounds like you had fantastic sessions despite the wind. It has the same effect on me, much more than my horse really!
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