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Not-So-Speedy Dressage

From Endurance to Dressage

BIG Aha!

3/11/2014

 
It was such a HUGE aha moment that I felt like I had literally invented the idea! I wrote this the other day, I need to trust the contact that I have, sit back, and scoop him UP into the right lead canter. Well, I had my chance to give it a try on Sunday, and I am here to say hallelujah!

When I told my trainer about my "epiphany," she just laughed and said that in a way it was a brand new concept. She said it has to do with the whole right brain/left brain thing (a topic on which science does not yet have agreement). One side of my brain (probably the logical) has heard this all before; the right side (creative side) finally connected the right neurons and viola, a whole new concept was understood!

For whatever reason (I seem to say that a lot), Sydney was not so Captain Awesome over the weekend. He wanted to rush, be heavy, spook, run off … you name it. I was actually glad for all of his shenanigans because it gave me an opportunity to work on that kind of crap in preparation for shows and clinics.

He was particularly naughty on Sunday, but I stuck to my guns. When he wanted to rush, I planted both hands firmly on my bucking strap, and I used as much leg as I could to send him sideways. I don't feel the need to pull back anymore, but it takes a lot of core strength to send him sideways without letting him pull me forward. My puny little biceps were flat out bulging!

We did quite a few leg yields from the quarter line to H to C to down the next quarter line to F and back to A, all on the right bend. I just kept at it until he finally realized that he was getting nowhere fast. We took a walk break, and then I decided to work on that right lead canter.

It was perfectly awful, but in a perfect way! As I prepared for the canter departure, the sequence of aids literally presented themselves in my mind so clearly that I felt as though they were original thoughts. It seemed so simple: I didn't shorten my reins. I sat up. I cued him for the canter by scooping with my seat while holding that outside rein firm.

I'd like to say that he simply rolled into a lovely canter, but he didn't. But what was great, was that I kept him packaged together until his legs finally got going in the right rhythm. He tried to snatch the outside rein, but I simply held it firmly while while sending him sideways with my inside leg. He had nowhere else to go but forward into the canter, and I actually felt him lift into it.

While none of our efforts were perfect, I finally get what needs to happen to get that lovely canter departure we've been aiming for. And best of all, I didn't feel any sense of being out of control. 
Picture
Not us, but we're starting to get some of this lift!
Austen link
3/10/2014 11:01:35 pm

YES! You got it!

Bakersfield Dressage link
3/11/2014 11:18:03 am

Yippee - now ten million other things!

Laura @ Bit by Bit link
3/10/2014 11:33:54 pm

That is great - it is wonderful when things like that come together. I personally have been struggling with this "scooping" concept for quite a while. My trainer has been trying to instil it in me for ages, but I just can't get it. I eagerly away my own right brain epiphany. :-)

Bakersfield Dressage link
3/11/2014 11:19:58 am

I "knew" what to do, but actually applying it correctly was the hard part. My timing was always off or I dropped the contact, or SOMETHING. This weekend, I finally FELT the timing. Keep at it as one day soon you'll just FEEL it. :0)

I am now waiting to start "feeling" a boatload of other stuff. :0)

Jessica @ The Georgia Horse link
3/11/2014 12:48:13 am

Glad that you had an Aha moment! I love when those happen! They are priceless.

Bakersfield Dressage link
3/11/2014 11:20:20 am

They're why I ride!

Lauren link
3/11/2014 01:07:59 am

Great 'ah-ha'!

Bakersfield Dressage link
3/11/2014 11:20:40 am

It was a biggie for sure!

Desirea
3/11/2014 03:07:28 am

Great Job Karen! I'm so going to have to setup my blog and get going on it. I've been doing a daily short form diary of my riding but this is wonderful.

Bakersfield Dressage link
3/11/2014 11:17:32 am

Thanks, Desirea. Share the URL once you're up and running. I'd love to see what you come up with. :0)

Hannah link
3/11/2014 09:47:07 am

Woohoooooooooooooo!

Bakersfield Dressage link
3/11/2014 11:21:29 am

You should have heard my squeals of delight. I was out there high-fiving myself!

Amanda link
3/11/2014 10:18:57 am

These moments are so exciting!

Bakersfield Dressage link
3/11/2014 11:22:25 am

For us dorks, yes they are!


Comments are closed.

    About the Writer and Rider

    ​I 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.
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    About Speedy G

    ​Speedy 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.
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    Izzy 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.
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Site Designed and Managed by: Karen Sweaney

Among other things, Karen is a Wife, Friend, Reader, Writer, Rider, Traveler, and Dog Lover
Contact her at bakersfielddressage@gmail.com
  • Home
  • About
  • My Horses
    • Horses
    • Imperioso
    • G Ima Starr FA
    • Sunshine
    • Nakota and Gideon
    • Corky
    • Sassy
    • Montoya DSA
    • Mickey Dee
    • Sydney
  • Show Results
    • 2022
    • 2021
    • 2020
    • 2019
    • 2018
    • 2017
    • 2016
    • 2015
    • 2014
    • 2013
    • 2012
    • 2011
    • 2010
  • Dressage Organizations
    • Dressage Organizations
    • Memberships
    • 2019 Dressage Tests
  • Local
    • Shopping List
  • Home