More Dressage

Hello everyone! A lot has happened since I last wrote to you. First of all I had two lessons with 5 star master Parelli instructor David Lichman. And my human Miguel was there too of course!

I particularly enjoyed the riding part of the private lesson we had. Mostly because I had the opportunity to make clear to Miguel that exaggerating aids is not the new black anymore! I’m probably antrophomorphising (attributing horse characteristics to humans) but I suppose like us, humans can get stuck in a phase sometimes! However, now that I have embraced my sensitivity it’s very annoying if the aids are too strong. So when we started to do back up to canter transitions and he gave me a very strong canter aid, I responded appropriately,… I bucked! Not so much that he would fall off but enough to send a clear message. It worked and immediately his aids become much more subtle!

Other than that I have to say the lesson was great. We have been doing a lot of work on trying to change my posture so I can find a better balance and thus feel better in myself during our play sessions. Self carriage anyone? This lesson built on that. Shoulder in and reverse shoulder in on the circle, lots of transitions, etc. It all felt a bit uncomfortable at first (because we were doing more than we usually do!) but I did find that when I got the comfortable posture (balance) it felt really good. I know Miguel is getting pretty desperate with the way I am with contact - deeply ingrained hang ups are difficult to change- but this lesson definitely contributed a bit to further change my mind on this.

Then, a week later, we went back for a second session with the dressage lady! Now this was very interesting too. She had us ride a  dressage test! Even though I have very bad memories of my earlier dressage training, it ended up being quite fun! The teacher built it up gradually and focused on the pattern and Miguel’s posture, aids etc. She decided not to focus on how I am with contact which was a relief because I need more time with that!

What was really great too was that Miguel was really focused and provided great leadership. I like that. You want to ride a straight line down the center line, focus straight ahead and I’ll do it. Want to ride a 20 meter circle? Focus on the circle and I’ll do it happily in walk, trot or canter!! Anyhow we practiced the test for a good half hour, really a bit too long because we have been riding (freestyle) patterns for so long, it’s really just putting a few bits and bobs together and voila, here we have a dressage test.

Everything went swimmingly well and I was getting amazing feedback from the dressage trainer. If only she knew how I have had to put Miguel through his paces to get us to this point! But to be fair he stuck with me and now here we are, having some fun!

At the end of the session Miguel started second guessing himself and then of course we (he!) started making mistakes. I tried to tell him several times that he wasn’t asking me to do the right thing but I guess he still has to learn to listen to me a bit more. Maybe I should throw in some more bucking for good measure. Tantrums can be such fun!

All in all a very interesting couple of weeks. Miguel keeps talking about breakthroughs. But I have no idea what that means!

Time to eat now!

Dressage

It’s Monday and I have hardly seen my human (Miguel) all weekend. But he is here today and I feel something is up, something big! But it will be another week before I find out what it is.

It’s now Sunday morning early and Miguel has just arrived and I can feel his nerves, this funny feeling in his stomach that creates a nervous energy around him. Should I be worried? Anyway, I get fed and let out in the field, so maybe it is just another Sunday after all.

But of course it is not, the nervous energy is unmistakable.  He collects me from the field and I can see the trailer is all hooked up to the car. We are going somewhere! Normally I load just fine but his nervous energy is making me a bit jittery so I make a bit of a song and dance about it this time. Just to send him a message to calm down.  He does eventually and I reward him by going into the trailer and proceed to eat the hay from the net.

About an hour later we arrive at our destination. I get unloaded from the trailer and introduced to a very nice lady with a lovely energy about her. Calm but decisive. I like it. I get brought into an indoor arena which reminds me of my old home in the dressage yard where my human got me. Could it be that it is dressage time again? How interesting, …. Maybe.

Based on something the lady says we proceed to go through our normal routine, if feels familiar even though I am in a new environment. This, normally, I don’t like. But the familiarity of the routine, the fact that my human is now calm and focused helps me to stay calm too. We play on the ground for a little bit and I get a chance to familiarize myself with the new environment. That is really nice and suddenly I find all those big mirrors everywhere not scary at all. In fact, it can be quite interesting to stare back at your own reflection. Plus, I am better looking than I thought!

Eventually Miguel gets up and we proceed to ride some familiar freestyle patterns, while the lady looks on approvingly. But then I know it is definitely dressage time as my human proceeds to pick up the contact and I do what I have always done do to avoid it, bend my neck so far that my chin is on my chest. Being a Friesian I have a very bendy neck and although it’s not entirely comfortable going around like this, I think that it is still nicer than having this ‘pull’ in my mouth.

Then the lady comes over and starts talking to Miguel at length. He gets off and they go off somewhere. When they come back I get a different saddle and I get a new bridle with a different bit. All of which makes me feel more comfortable. Then we are trotting again and although I don’t know what the lady said, I feel much more in harmony with Miguel in the rising trot. His butt is not slamming into my back so much anymore and it’s an enormous relief. I can now go around with a much nicer rhythm and that makes me feel even more relaxed. I’m still not giving in on the over bending though. That’s what I’ve always done and I’m sticking with it.

Next thing I know we are going outside. As we ride towards the outdoor arena there are so many scary things but my human is confident and so I really can’t be bothered spooking. Something which I used to do all the time now seems unnecessary. In the outdoor I also get a chance to look around and explore a little bit. Nice. Then it’s back to work, ok call it playing with a purpose if you like that better. Miguel is still not getting his improved position for the rising trot consistently but boy it still feels so much more harmonious. Then I’m asked to canter. That’s another thing that I used to hate, as earlier in my life when I was used for driving I was punished for cantering, then when I moved on to dressage I was punished for not cantering. Make up your minds people! Anyhow Miguel spent a lot of time with me getting me comfortable cantering so I do it now, no questions asked (most of the time anyway). I now totally get the point of all that foundation building we did over the last 3 years.

We’re on a 20 meter circle and I canter a round and trot a round, etc. It’s kind of ok and I can keep a working rhythm as long as Miguel keeps his focus. He keeps losing it, the poor thing! Anyhow I feel pretty ok and suddenly I realize that for some brief moments I forget to over bend to avoid the bit. Maybe that’s not so bad after all, I’ll think about it a bit more. Before long the lesson is over. We walk back to the stable area and I get a chance to eat some grass. I vaguely hear something about rhythm, relaxation and contact being the first 3 steps to collection. That must be why we worked on rhythm today! Then lots of stuff gets loaded back in the car and then it’s my turn to go back into the trailer. This time I go in with pleasure and off we go.

It’s now a week later and we’ve been playing a lot with rhythm. It’s getting a little bit better, especially because Miguel’s balance keeps improving in the rising trot and it keeps getting lighter. Guess that is why they call it leichtreiten in German, it’s supposed to be light!

I wonder if we will be taking any more trips to see that lady again. I almost hope we will.