Lola and I had a great lesson today.
 |
She is pretty cute in her furry-fuzzy winter coat, but its a pain in the butt now that we've got sunny days to make her shed out!!! So much hair! Of course just standing in the sun makes her sweat right now... it will be nice when its all shed out, but I've got a feeling that this early spring weather is faking us out and it will probably storm up again.
The lesson was great. Quite a lot of the same work as last, just not as extreme. Now that I've slowed her down in the walk (quickness of step) I can start asking her to step forward (length of step), which of course carries over to the trot, and, logically, the canter. So I'm riding each gait by strongly pushing her forward with my lower legs in rhythm, while keeping a strong steady contact in front. It is SO counter-intuitive to fix a quick choppy stride by pushing forward, but that's it exactly. She still has a rushed canter when she's not sure if she's balanced. I was amazed that when I sat up and drove her forward from both my seat AND my lower legs, that she didn't shoot out from under me, she actually got slower, rounder, and stepped forward into the canter more correctly! Hmm... this is why I take lessons. Sometimes someone else has to convince you it will work before you're willing to try.
After the lesson I took advantage of the sun and washed Lola's tail! It took two washings and a TON of scrubbing to get it clean. Oh what a mess the winter made of it. So its all conditioned and braided now to stay cleaner.
This week has some evening rides planned when I can get out there, and the weekend holds a trail ride with the fiancé. It will be interesting to see how the horses react to seeing each other again after a month apart!
Lola looks great :)
ReplyDeleteGlad things are improving.