Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Dressage with Speedbumps

I've been trying to do a few little jumps every week or two, so it's not a big deal to either Cupid or myself.  Most of the time these jumps are small enough to step over, with the focus being riding between the jumps - pace, straightness, etc.  Even though I don't actually feel nervous, I realized today that subconsciously it does affect me.  Often it just feels sloppy: I let Cupid cut the corners, or canter instead of trot or vice versa approaching a jump. 

After one such round today I stopped to think about it, and I don't let Cupid get away with that when we're having a dressage or flat work day.  Adding a few little jumps shouldn't change that!  So I made a determined effort over a few more jumps and ended with some flat work, asking for some leg yields and shoulder ins.  Cupid (usually!) does listen if I ask, I just need to remember that I'm the one in the driver's seat.  And in fact Cupid would probably prefer not having to make decisions but I need to give him confidence that one of us (me) is in charge. 

Just a quick thought I wanted to get down from today's ride!

2 comments:

  1. ha it's kinda funny bc in some ways i'm the opposite with jumping, tho oddly also bc jumping can affect me like that too. like somehow i get more serious about riding more accurately bc that jump is *right there* and isn't gonna move, whereas if i'm just cantering a 20m circle, nothing really truly bad will come if it's more like a 20m egg..... so i often end up riding less accurately than i am capable of on the flat. funny how it all affects us differently!

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    1. Hopefully now that I'm aware of the problem I can work on fixing it!

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