Not Dead

I haven't blogged in a while, but not because of anything bad.  Really there hasn't been anything super interesting to write about anyhow, but with the baby at home it's just been hard enough getting on the computer to get my work done, much less extracurriculars.

Lessons have been great!  My coach agreed my upper body has gotten a lot better, but now to work on elbows and hands, as well as keeping my legs long and under me with my feet flat and not pointing out.  This may sound a little crazy, but my coach suggested we try tying my upper arms down around my waist, so I can build correct muscle memory for bending my elbows.  Is surprisingly doesn't feel weird at all.  

We've actually been doing a good bit of walk work, trying to correct our tendency to get lazy at the gait.  Basically, taking my leg all the way off, and if he slows a light squeeze followed by a bump with the spurs if no response.  Tap-tap of the whip if we really need to escalate.  We've been doing small circles at the walk getting Cupid to cross his hind legs and work on bending - my coach told me to think about asking Cupid to touch his nose to my boot.  Of course that's an exaggeration, we're not actually doing that.

A particular highlight was when we were able to have our lesson in the outdoor.  Cupid was actually fairly good, but we spent a lot of time focusing on improving roundness and asking him to lower his neck but raise his poll on the less-spooky side, and just keeping his focus on the more spooky side.  I realized I need to do my first half halt much earlier then I thought, several strides before we get to the slightly spooky area.  That helped a lot.

On Memorial Day weekend Cupid and I went for a trail ride.  The weather was perfect and we had a lovely time walking through the redwoods.  There were a lot of hikers, many of whom were excited to see horses.

Something in the Air

This Sunday, neither Cupid nor the Soloshot were being fully cooperative!  Cupid has been going beautifully in the outdoor arena recently, but yesterday he acted like he's never been there before.  I knew as soon as I led him in that it might be one of those days.  I did some brief in hand work before getting on, though really not enough for it to help relax him.

I got on and started walking, trying to give him things to do while avoiding the spookiest area (the long side around B).  After about 10 minutes I got him trotting on a circle in the far end, which tends to be the least spooky area.  He was pretty tense throughout, especially on the quarter of the circle closest to the scary side so I tried to do smaller circles before we hit that to keep his attention on me.  He was very tense and tight, so mostly I was just trying to get him moving forward.

He did once respond to my leg by kicking out, but I mostly ignored that pissy moment.

I continued avoiding around B, so I would ride down the opposite long side, turn onto the centerline at C and angle back to K, or do shallow loops or other figures trying to avoid the spooky side.

We did a little cantering also on a circle at A.  Cupid rushed a bit, so I just tried to remind myself to keep sitting back like I've been doing.

Finally we walked down the spooky side, at first halting a few times.  Cupid had his head up high and was looking around, but at least walked straight.  Then we walked down it without stopping, with a bit of shoulder fore to the inside.  Then when he trotted straight down, I decided to do a quick stretchy trot and end it on a semi-good note.

It can be a bit frustrating, he's been so good out there I thought we were finally over this.  But later when I told my friend who boards at the same barn, she said her horse was pretty up on Sunday too (though she didn't ride in that arena), so maybe it was just something in the air! 

Shoulders Over Hips

After being able to watch more videos of myself ride, I'm starting to think it's a wonder I can walk upright because I certainly seem incapable while riding!  So my motto has become "shoulders over hips."  Having the Soloshot footage has been very helpful.  In my mind it can feel like I'm leaning way way back, about to lay on Cupid's rump, but then when I see the video I'm in a pretty good position, so I've been trying to get used to that feeling.

We've been playing a little with leg yield.

I finally had my first lesson in almost 2 months today, and my coach agreed that I've made progress which was great to hear.  She also said Cupid has gotten a bit more consistent in the contact, and she thinks we are each on the verge of a major breakthrough to take the next step forward!

Now that I'm starting to get that under control, I want to focus on my elbows and hands next, and then on sinking into my heels.