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Jan. 7th, 2008 08:35 amGood lesson on Sunday- the canter wasn't as stellar as it has been, but it's gotten pretty cold again so I'm willing to forgive a little stiffness and hustle. We did some work over trot poles and it made Trudi's trot SUPER. She was all bound, bound, bound- just a ton of extra suspension in her stride and her joints really flexing, and she was using her whole body.
We worked on changing the way I ride her a little- really getting the hind legs active and pushing her toward the bit, but bringing my hands forward a little and imagining her neck falling forward and down with her nose reaching down and out- but this was in a frame with the reins about as short as I keep them when we're working. Basically the idea is to keep generating thrust from the rear and sending it forward and letting it go out toward her nose, and giving her the feeling of more freedom in the front because she can get a little stuck. It looked really long from my perspective, but Jessica said it doesn't look long from the ground, and that it will help keep her through and keep her from coming behind the vertical, which hasn't been a problem for us yet but I've ridden horses that do that in the past and would like to avoid it. ^_^ Trudi really went for the contact, and I think it's a good thing for her since she has a fairly high neck- she likes to just arch it and drop the contact sometimes, but this way she kept reaching to the bit- it was cool, but I've yet to try and do this on my own- it could take a little while to figure it out. We did some actual lengthenings at the trot and that was way cool- feeling the bigger strides and having no change in the rhythm.
We worked on changing the way I ride her a little- really getting the hind legs active and pushing her toward the bit, but bringing my hands forward a little and imagining her neck falling forward and down with her nose reaching down and out- but this was in a frame with the reins about as short as I keep them when we're working. Basically the idea is to keep generating thrust from the rear and sending it forward and letting it go out toward her nose, and giving her the feeling of more freedom in the front because she can get a little stuck. It looked really long from my perspective, but Jessica said it doesn't look long from the ground, and that it will help keep her through and keep her from coming behind the vertical, which hasn't been a problem for us yet but I've ridden horses that do that in the past and would like to avoid it. ^_^ Trudi really went for the contact, and I think it's a good thing for her since she has a fairly high neck- she likes to just arch it and drop the contact sometimes, but this way she kept reaching to the bit- it was cool, but I've yet to try and do this on my own- it could take a little while to figure it out. We did some actual lengthenings at the trot and that was way cool- feeling the bigger strides and having no change in the rhythm.
