Lesson Recap

So, it was pretty obvious from the get go last night that the work we are doing with Ashke's body is making a huge difference in what he can do. I got some really nice half-pass at the trot at the very beginning of the ride. He is able to step up and under himself much easier going in his "hard" direction and was pretty proud of himself when he executed it effortlessly.

Before the lesson started we were walking the rail around the arena and he stopped to snort and inspect one of the "scary" areas. I squeaked and jerked in the saddle in pretend fright, which caused him to jump a little bit the first time and then just get irritated the second, third, fourth and fifth time. I was laughing my ass off, because if he is going to be silly, I will be silly right back at him. He gave up the ghost and just ignored those areas for the rest of the ride.

My Prince of Unicorns does not like to be made fun of. LMAO.

We did shoulder in and haunches in at the trot, which he did effortlessly. We went to leg yields at the trot, which he was a bit confused about, and kept offering the half-pass. We reestablished the leg yield, and I worked on slowing the trot, while still moving sideways, which helps with the whole balance thing and getting strung out. It really helped improve the leg yield moving from the right to the left. We will continue to work on that going forward. (It's not a race.)

Then we started spiral circles at the canter. I don't know why that exercise is so difficult for me, but it is a hard thing for me to do. When he started showing signs of fatigue, he would tip his hip to the inside of the circle to try and compensate. Amanda had us stop the spirals and move to cantering square corners, which forces him to use his body correctly. It was easier for us both on the right lead square, mostly because his right hind is still fatigued quickly. The square corners were good in both directions.

After a bit of a walk, we worked on modulating his canter from a smooth, free medium canter to a slower, more collected canter, focusing on making the transition very clear on the circle. His medium canter is much better and he was struggling less with the transitions. We were doing three to five steps in each gait then transitioning to the other speed and then back again. I really had to work to remember not to lean forward or throw my hands away. It will be a good exercise for me to work on while maintaining my body position.

After another walk break, we worked on slowing the canter as much as possible, without breaking to the trot for two or three steps and then moving forward again. This is what Amanda called a "schooling" canter and is a precursor to the canter pirouette. We could get two or three steps before he began to struggle. Amanda says its a really hard gait to hold and we should try two or three steps before moving forward again. After that exercise he was too tired to try any more canter.

We did some serpentines one handed at the trot, some half-pass at the walk (so hard to do at a slower gait) and then worked on the medium trot across the diagonal. That was enough for the night.

He did great. He was listening and trying too hard sometimes, but what can you do with an over achiever?