I’m absolutely exhausted after today’s lesson! Pea and I may well have worked harder than ever before. With only a week until we go back to our nemesis venue for some winter dressage and only 3 weeks until the area qualifiers at Hartbury (which will be a dream come true to attend) the pressure is on.
We’ve been struggling with getting our ‘left banana’ bend so my instructor got me to ride squares rather than circles, getting the bend on the corners and keeping the edges straight with no naughty right bend. That involved a lot of left leg which I find quite hard. It still feels a little bit like I don’t have full control over my left leg, probably because my range of motion is so limited. We got there though (sort of) and even did some left bend on the right rein (intentionally!!)
Then we moved onto working on our canter transitions. I really need to get to the stage where I sit, use my seat to feel the right moment to strike off so that we are on the right leg but I am just not there yet! It is the right canter that is the problem so we tried swapping my whip over to the right side. I definitely need to do this more often because I’m hopeless with my right hand! Literally can’t coordinate myself together.
By the time we got back to the trot work and did a few serpentines, Pea had loosened up to the left and it was her right trot that wasn’t so good! We’ve got so much to work on.
Homework for this week includes
– Not letting Pea bend to the right when we are on the left rein (ditch circles if they are not working and go for squares!)
– Practise my sitting trot, a few strides sitting then a few strides rising to try to stop Pea from anticipating something happening so much
– Work on those canter transitions and being able to recognise when to ask to get it correct or failing that, recognise within the first steps whether we are right or not
– Get myself fitter and try to improve my left leg flexibility and strength. I’m starting to be more and more aware that my damn left leg is still holding me back
– Lose the fluff! Pea was absolutely foaming with sweat today which just isn’t going to work as the weather gets colder and her coat gets fluffier. If we are going to put the work in over the winter we need to get the clippers out
Young Hip and Horsey 
The homework is ever present with dressage! Best of luck with the competition. Last weekend I debuted a freestyle and I certainly felt under some pressure with it but it went off well despite some technical glitches with the music.
LikeLike