Lesson 10/19/11

Had another grrrrrrrreat lesson last night (yes, I am Tony the Tiger). Did some new stuff, worked on some old issues.

The New:
Trainer had us do some no stirrup work at the beginning of the lesson. Apparently she was feeling like we needed to be worked hard (on a Tuesday night! *cry*) I am not new to this, but I am new to not having my stirrups over a freaking jump! Thats right, ladies and gents, I jumped without my stirrups. And it was fab. Granted, these weren't really "jumps" so much as very small "crossrails" but whatever. Arwen jumped over them for reals and I stayed on and actually did a decent job! I did grab mane in case anything funny happened, but she was so. Good. We trotted up to the jump, she took it, and then cantered quietly away.   Love my pony!

The Old:
Our arch nemesis, bending lines. The last part of the course was doing the outside bending line we nailed on Saturday. BUT...going the reverse direction. So it was a seven stride bending to the three stride. The way its set, going the reverse is making Arwen bend in her hard direction (left bend). Without fail, when asked to bend that way she just gets a little stiff in both her side and her mouth, and tends to rush down the lines. I always work on softening her that way, but I imagine when I get tense she gets a little tense, and the bad habits come flooding back. So we broke it down into simple steps. First jumped just the crossbar, until I felt like she was listening. Then we did the 7 in an 8, because she really didn't want to bend and because the rail is on her right side, she REALLY wants to go towards it. Finally, we got the seven but it wasn't that pretty (she took a fairly long spot like a good girl, lots of pats for that). Did it one more time and had a much nicer 7. The 3 stride through that exercise was never a problem. Like I've mentioned, she is really great through those. So we ended on that last one because a) she did it, and did it fairly well and b) with her, we just can't drill things over and over and over. It usually leads to a meltdown of communication. So when she gives to me, we tend to compromise and meet in the middle. I think though that is a sign of real partnership, right? I mean don't get me wrong, I definitely want her to respect me. But like my trainer tells me, sometimes you just really have to pick your battles. And the thing is, she wasn't being bad at all. Nothing naughty, not being rushy or charging through my hand. I was just asking her to do something that is harder for her, and that we really both need to continue working on. 

Overall pretty successful lesson and I am so thrilled with how she is being. Of course, I think all lessons are going to pale in comparison to the one we had Saturday where it was totally on but I think that feeling is a good one to strive for each time I ride. Also...I have to remember not to relax on asking things of her, and making sure she is listening to me. I haven't been slacking so far (we are doing lateral work consistently, which I think is helping a lot)!

Oh, and on a random note, I saw that she is slightly stocking up on her front legs now. Just a smidge. She has always stocked up on her back legs from being in her stall (and she's not a walker-she's a stander and wait for food type of horse) but the slight stocking up in the front is new. There is no heat though, and she's not lame at all. Also, it does go away after exercise. Nevertheless, its something I'm definitely going to keep an eye on.