Since everything else has been going pretty good, my trainer decided we need to work more on the sitting trot. Which I'm just the worst at! We haven't done too much of it, initially because Cupid was young/green, then we just had so many other things to work on, then right after we started a little bit he had his back problem. So I've gotten out of it for a long time. I know the key is to stay relaxed; the harder you try to sit still the worse it gets. I tried to cheat and get Cupid to do a little shuffle-y trot but of course my trainer stopped that pretty quick.
Like most thoroughbreds, Cupid doesn't have the smoothest gaits. But no excuses. I still remember the one and only time Cupid was working round and sitting was just easy, so I know we can do it. There may be another lunge line lesson in my near future!
Otherwise things have been going well. I was looking forward to going to an "Intro to Cattle Work" clinic this weekend, but unfortunately the clinic was cancelled. :( Maybe it's for the best, I have no idea how Cupid would have reacted. He's been totally fine riding along cow pastures, but I'm not sure what he would think of sharing the arena with cows! But we do have a hunter/eq clinic next week, so something to look forward to.
Sitting trot is hard. I try to sit and when I start to lose it, post for a bit and then go back to sitting. It helps. the trick is to not tense (which is hard). Also, Johanna gave a me a great tip to make sure that my knees were really loose as that helps absorb the movement.
ReplyDeleteYes that's definitely part of my problem, I try to use my knees to clamp myself down!
DeleteMy coach has a huge moving dressage mare I struggled to adapt to. I found the best time to find the feel of it was at the end of the lesson or ride where generally speaking I had her soft and 'through' and I was normally a bit tired so I tended to hold less tension in my body :) Dropping the stirrups helped too, so my leg could just hang and I had to use my seat.
ReplyDeleteLol I'm scared I'll get bounced clear off without my stirrups, but I'm not sure I will learn otherwise!
Deleteoh gawd i HATE the sitting trot.... it's just so so so hard ugh
ReplyDelete