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Poppin' fresh
Feb. 16th, 2008 11:21 pmInstructor rescheduled lesson for tomorrow, so I'll have to report back. Not a bad ride today overall, though not magical like on Tuesday. That's ok, I think I would have been afraid if it was. :) I guess there's just too much cynic in me to handle that much goodness- I'd just be waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Things that were annoying- pony did not want to stretch into the bridle at all, and we did not keep good contact on the bit. Pony also wanted to be a snot about the boogeyman corner again- 2 steps forward, 1 step back-- we got through it okay several times, but generally speaking there was tenseness and silliness when we went near it. Drives me nuts. Also, my lower back was hurting. I think I must have hurt it the other night.
Things that were good- Pony did eventually get quite supple and swinging in the back, to the point where she actually popped MY back, 2 vertebra went *pop* *pop* which actually felt good and helped, although it's still somewhat sore. Pony is also doing some good work with the hind legs these days- lateral work was very good and seems much easier for her- did some easy leg yields and good shoulder in. Also did some voltes at the trot which she hated me for- she was trying to speed up and be nutty and so we would redirect that energy into the volte which annoyed her but gave her something hard to do and helped supple her. I very nearly got suckered into letting her canter on her terms when she kept offering- lovely departs into a nice canter, but that wasn't what I was asking for so hey, volte time. After she seemed to forget about the canter, we changed directions, walked, and THEN cantered. Mostly good canter, did some small circles and had some utterly fantastic trot/canter transitions. We had some good trot work too, though the canter/trot downward transitions were nothing to write home about.
A friend from the old barn watched us for a minute- I'd been cooling Trudi out but had her do a little trot and canter for my friend and she was great. My friend was like, "OMG, your position has gotten like 100 percent better!" which made me feel good- looks like all that work on my seat and learning to use my core is paying off. Trudi was also trucking along at her swingin' free walk since she was all suppled up from the work, so my friend was just about drooling there. :)
Things that were annoying- pony did not want to stretch into the bridle at all, and we did not keep good contact on the bit. Pony also wanted to be a snot about the boogeyman corner again- 2 steps forward, 1 step back-- we got through it okay several times, but generally speaking there was tenseness and silliness when we went near it. Drives me nuts. Also, my lower back was hurting. I think I must have hurt it the other night.
Things that were good- Pony did eventually get quite supple and swinging in the back, to the point where she actually popped MY back, 2 vertebra went *pop* *pop* which actually felt good and helped, although it's still somewhat sore. Pony is also doing some good work with the hind legs these days- lateral work was very good and seems much easier for her- did some easy leg yields and good shoulder in. Also did some voltes at the trot which she hated me for- she was trying to speed up and be nutty and so we would redirect that energy into the volte which annoyed her but gave her something hard to do and helped supple her. I very nearly got suckered into letting her canter on her terms when she kept offering- lovely departs into a nice canter, but that wasn't what I was asking for so hey, volte time. After she seemed to forget about the canter, we changed directions, walked, and THEN cantered. Mostly good canter, did some small circles and had some utterly fantastic trot/canter transitions. We had some good trot work too, though the canter/trot downward transitions were nothing to write home about.
A friend from the old barn watched us for a minute- I'd been cooling Trudi out but had her do a little trot and canter for my friend and she was great. My friend was like, "OMG, your position has gotten like 100 percent better!" which made me feel good- looks like all that work on my seat and learning to use my core is paying off. Trudi was also trucking along at her swingin' free walk since she was all suppled up from the work, so my friend was just about drooling there. :)
