A Tripod, Camera, and Some Poor Cinematography

Well ... it didn't work quite as well as I was hoping, but I did get to watch myself schooling Speedy G without the aid of a trainer or friend.  After riding for 30 to 40 minutes I eagerly raced home to watch my footage. Unfortunately Speedy G and I spent more than half of the time outside of the camera's viewfinder!

I did a serious amount of editing, but here's just under two minutes of our ride.  We started out with a bit of walking warm-up and then moved on to circles, canter transitions, and changes of directions.  None of the changes of direction made the "cut" as they were all done off camera.

Do I like any of it?  Yes!  We have some real moments of soft and round, and my position is hugely improved. Unfortunately, Speedy G wasn't giving me some of the nicer canter work that he had been giving me recently. I could feel that he was a bit heavy in front and the video confirmed it.  

Please don't think that I think this is fabulous work.  This video shows big improvement over what we could do last summer, but we have a long way to go.  I am just putting this out there for other lower level adult amateurs who want to see that everyone struggles.  Do I dislike some of it?  Yes!  Now that Speedy is getting softer I do need to start shortening my reins, and I need to work on pushing him forward to the bit.  I tend to ask for softness with my hands and I let him get behind my leg.  And while this is incorrect, it was what he and I needed to do.  Now that he knows that I will be soft, I need to start riding with a slightly firmer contact.

I will set up the tripod again, but I think I'll mark the visible area with cones so that we stay in the camera's view finder!