Not-So-Speedy Dressage
From Endurance to Dressage
Huh?! I know it sounds confusing, but I wanted to let you know how Friday's lesson turned out. Here's the Training Update in case you missed it earlier.
So far, JL has helped me use my outside rein and leg to turn on the haunches. She's also helped me use the inside rein and inside leg to bend and move out. We then had a lesson where we put those aids together to make round circles; pushing out when he falls in and catching the shoulder when he driftes out. It felt a lot like dribbling a soccer ball. A push from the outside leg, a tap from the inside leg, and so on. All the while, I was holding the outside rein steady to keep Sydney from "falling in" and rocking with the inside rein to say soften. Or ... I was using the outside rein to keep him steady and pushing him to that outside rein with the inside leg. Then I had a little problem with him being heavy, especially so to the right. When we track right, I have to really take hold of the outside rein to keep him from collapsing into the circle. This week he has decided to hang on the rein to balance himself. Nope, can't help you there, Dude! The heaviness to the left was easily cleared up by simply bending my elbows and letting them rock with his rhythm. Tada - lightness! So how did we "fix" the heaviness to the right? As suspected, JL had me get a bit firmer. As we tracked right, I held the outside rein with a steady contact so that I had Sydney slightly counter-flexed. We made the turns with outside leg pressure. As he began to maintain the rhythm, I started trying to establish contact with the inside rein by gently rocking it with his stride. (Think about a rocking chair.) With a bent elbow, there's a lot of room to pull back with the shoulder blade and move forward again. When my elbows aren't bent, and my wrists are "broken," all my movement is trapped in my hands. AHA! That's riding with your hands! As I rocked my shoulder and elbow back and forth (with a bent elbow), his nose become straighter and tipped less to the outside. As heavy as he was on my outside rein, that's how much I rocked the inside rein. Little by little we established a steady contact with the inside rein. He started to soften the outside jaw and neck muscles and tip his nose into the bend all without me loosening the outside rein. As he did so, his head got lower and lower as he reached for the contact. As he started to bend, he also began falling into the circle. To correct him, I went back to what we had learned about inside and outside leg aids: when he fell in, I bumped him with my inside leg to push him out. When he drifted too far out, I bumped him with my outside leg. As we circled, it became a game of catching him before he went too far off of the prescribed circle. Eventually he was staying right between my legs, and he needed only slight corrections to stay on course. Another AHA! - that's what riding with your seat and legs feels like! Comments are closed.
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About the Writer and RiderI am a lifelong rider.
I began endurance riding in 1996 where I ultimately completed five, one-day 100 mile races, the 200-mile Death Valley Encounter, and numerous other 50, 65, and 75 mile races. I began showing dressage in 2010. Welcome to my dressage journey. About Speedy GSpeedy went from endurance horse to dressage horse. After helping me earn a USDF Bronze medal in the summer of 2020, he is now semi-retired. Speedy is a 2004, 15'1 hand, purebred Arabian gelding. His Arabian Horse Registry name is G Ima Starr FA.
About IzzyIzzy was started as a four-year old and then spent the next 18 months in pasture growing up. I bought him as a six-year old, and together, we are showing at the lower levels. He is a 2008, 16'3 hand warmblood gelding. His Rheinland Pfalz-saar International (RPSI) name is Imperioso.
National Rider AwardsState Rider Awards
State Horse Awards
Working Towards:
CDS Sapphire Rider Award Third Level: 63.514% Third Level: 62.105% Fourth Level: Fourth Level: 2023 Show Season
Show Rating (***) CDS/USDF/USEF (*) CDS (s) Schooling (c) Clinic (r) Ride-a-Test Clinic 2023 Show Schedule
TBD 2023 Completed … Pending 2023 Qualifying Scores
Regional Adult Amateur Competition (RAAC) Qualifying Training Level 3 Scores/2 Judges/60%: Score 1: Score 2: Score 3: Archives
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