Tonight was our first hour lesson with Val (the new barn owner). Wow! She had me using muscles I haven't used while riding in a very long time. After warming G up, we had a small discussion about my goals with dressage, and whether I wanted to trot G under saddle at all. I told her that he lunges at the trot and we've done pole work on the lunge, but I've never tried it under saddle. So, she said since she planned on doing poles anyway, let's give it a whirl. As we approached the poles I went into a two-point position and urged G forward. Walked the first two, trotted the last two. We managed to get four strides of trot in both directions so we moved on to leg yields.
I'm finding working with G in an outdoor arena is a little more work than in an indoor. There are a lot more distractions so I have to be vigilant and keep him focused on our sessions. Birds flying through, landing on the rails, cats & dogs walking by, horses being hand grazed, etc. It's really good though as its teaching us both how to stay focused on the task at hand. Leg yields weren't his best, but I discovered (through Val's eyes) that I wasn't softening my hand on the inside rein. Once I made that adjustment, we got a few nice cross overs. The little nuances of leg and rein aids is amazing. Having someone who pays real close attention to my hands/elbows and legs is awesome. After leg yields we moved onto the canter.
One of the other adjustments Val made was in my seat. I have a tendency after years and years of being a western/trail rider to allow my pelvis to rotate back slightly. Once I made the adjustment and sat straighter and stayed aware of my "triangle" throughout the ride it made a huge difference. At the left lead canter my thighs were burning! Hadn't felt that since way back in my jumping days either. On the 5th circle round I brought him back to the walk and said "oooowww - my thighs!" Val smiled and said "good, that means your sitting properly now". Thanks Val, NOT! No actually, this is a good thing as it will help work the right muscles and hopefully help me in losing some weight. Since I started riding a gaited horse I don't get the same workout as I used to. I think trotting over poles will also help in that regard. Between the two I was sweating last night and it wasn't that warm!
On the right lead G was having a slight issue with his right hind. Not sure if it was the pole work (way different for him under saddle) or the hill work we did two days prior. I asked him to gait and had no issues whatsoever, but I still checked him when I dismounted and found his right stifle to be a little tight so I'm thinking trotting over the poles may have been the culprit. We may need to do this in moderation and build back up. In any event, it was a great first lesson and I think that we've reached another level in our training. I'm excited over the prospect!
Tonight I'll go back and work the walk with him in relaxation.
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