Sorry to bore you all with this, but I had the BEST ride on Sydney yesterday. My goal for the summer has been to get a consistent right lead canter departure even when he's tense or anxious. I can't say that it's perfect yet, but damn! We're getting so close!

The funny thing is that in an effort to nail down the right lead, the left has just turned into butter. With what feels like no effort on my part, the left lead canter is light, balanced, and extremely adjustable. Our walk to canter transition is smooth as silk and the downward is just as pretty.

So here is what happened on Thursday, but first, let me set the scene: both gardeners were in full work mode next door. The weed-wacker was screeching, and the riding mower was rumbling along. The bug guy was creeping around the property spraying in all of the dark, scary places and popping into view randomly. The neighbor was bustling around the barn doing this and that.

I walked Sydney into the arena shaking my head no. Just, no. It would be best to just skip the ride and try again on Friday. In the past, all of this activity would have caused a nuclear melt down. Sydney was looking, and his body was pretty tense, but I decided that this was a perfect opportunity to try out what we've been schooling for: tension at a show.

He was so tight through his back that as I asked for the trot, he almost felt lame. Instead of worrying, I just asked for more trot and started rocking the inside, left rein. He continued to giraffe his neck, but I took a firm hold of the outside rein, added leg, and ROCKED the inside rein. Within a minute, he put his focus back on me, and started to relax.

I sent him into a left lead canter where the last bit of tension fell away. We came back to a walk, I praised him, and then asked him to pick it up again. He was still listening to what was going on all around him, but my attitude was this: I am here to make sure you are safe. There is nothing to worry about it. He decided that it was all no big deal.

Without delay, I changed direction and went to work softening the inside right rein while keeping him straight. JL had suggested I do some 10-meter circles before the canter to remind him what it feels like to bend his neck and let go through the poll, so I did a few of those.

When I felt like I had a good feel in both reins, I gently the rocked the inside to remind him that we were going right, and I cued for the canter. He picked it up right away and was light and soft and listening.

After a short walk, I again worked the inside rein at the trot and did some more 10-meter circles. At one point, he tried to volunteer the canter, but I quietly asked him to wait for my cue and had him come back to the trot. I felt like it was taking a bit of a risk, but I decided to ask for the canter in the first corner.

I say this is risky because cantering into the corner requires more bend than picking up the canter in the second half of the circle at A. It is also a tighter space with less room for shenanigans. When I ask for the canter away from the rail, we have more room if something goes haywire.

As I was doing the 10-meter circle, I followed my little mental checklist. I made sure he was solidly on the outside rein, I rocked the inside rein so that I couldn't see his left eye, and then I sat up and quietly asked for a right lead canter.

BOOM! There it was. Light as a feather with no resistance or any tension. We cantered for a few moments, transitioned quietly to the trot, and then I asked for a walk. As soon as Sydney halted, I leaped off him and gave him a huge hug. I was so proud of us both that I was nearly in tears.

Sydney loves whole head hugs, and will happily lean into my chest as I kiss the top of his head. I know he knew how happy he had made me. He stood there for the longest time just basking in my gratitude and praise.

We may not get any of this fine work at Sunday's show, but that's okay. It will happen eventually, and now that I have the correct feel, I can be of help to him rather than feed his worry.

Left lead canter, we have kicked your butt into submission! That thing is rock solid, consistent every time, and pretty to boot. Even when Captain Awesome is on holiday and Mr. Hyde is visiting, I can coax out a pretty good left lead and ride any sized shape that I want.  

JL didn't have much to say about it on Monday so we moved Sydney right into the right lead canter work. OH MY GOODNESS! The first few transitions were lovely. He was uphill, balanced and very manageable. Captain Awesome was wor-k-ing it!

So we decided to try out the one loop canter from First Level. JL's working end of the arena is too small to do it correctly, but we were able to at least come off the rail for a few strides and then go back. With just that little bit of counter canter, JL was able to offer some exercises to keep Sydney on the right lead without dropping back to trot. I'll share that exercise another day. Suffice it to say, we actually could do the counter canter part of the loop without too much effort.

About half way through the lesson, Sydney's balance went to hell. He got tense and anxious which gave me a chance to really school the right lead canter. When he's relaxed, the right lead is now dependable and quite nice. It's when his neck and jaw are tight that I have so much trouble. Each week, JL has helped me deconstruct the canter so that I can build it back up. The neck and poll are now the trouble spot.

When Sydney is tense, he really wants to look to the outside which makes picking up the right lead canter impossible. I can try over and over, but I get a left lead every time. So JL had me work Sydney's neck and poll from the trot to show him what I wanted.

I've already shared (many times) the crabbing thing where I send his hindquarters in so that they line up behind his shoulders. That's the first part. I also have to have a solid feel on the outside rein so that he doesn't drop his inside shoulder and roll over. I have those two elements down pat. 

The problem now is that I need to get Sydney's neck absolutely straight so that I can't see his outside eyeball; that's my reference point. When I can see his outside eye, it means he is pulling on the inside rein and tipping his nose to the outside.

To fix this, JL had me pulse that inside rein over and over to tell Sydney to let it go. I only managed to get one correct right lead canter, but now that I have a feeling for what needs to happen to get a right lead canter when he's that stiff and anxious, I am pretty sure I'll get better and better.

The trick is to get his neck very straight, pulse that inside rein, and then sit ABSOLUTELY still as we go through the canter departure. While he's trying to get his legs coordinated, if I lean forward even a hair, he picks up the left lead.

Sydney and I are going to a schooling show on Sunday. I have one more lesson with JL before that show. Firming up the right lead canter is my goal, but I am not going to be disappointed if we flub that part of the test. We'll just keep fine tuning until we get it fixed.

According to my trainer, I have now earned the right to work the inside rein when tracking right. I know that sounds stupid, but it is a huge deal. She also announced that it is because I now have an established outside, left rein, and I know how to use it.

So what does all of this mean and why should anyone care? Well, really, no one besides Sydney and I probably care, but what it means is that we are starting to really get this ball rolling.

My number one goal for this summer has been to get a consistent, right lead canter departure. I can check that off my list. I've moved on to maintain a consistently, round and balanced right lead canter. We're rock solid to the left so that was never even a factor in my whole goal-setting agenda. To the right, we are not quite there, but we are looking mighty fine.

I've been writing about this "chute" exercise. I circle at "A" on a right lead canter (not really as we don't have a dressage court, but you get the idea), and then canter down the long side which is a narrow chute between the fence and the jumps. At Monday's lesson, we cantered it on the right lead without any drama. Can you see me raising the roof?

Sydney is really crooked to the right. To the left, he's balanced and forgiving of my own imbalances. But to the right, I have to do the work for both of us. What JL has been able to do is teach me how to balance Sydney so that he can feel confident and safe in the right lead canter.

The first step is to get his haunches behind his shoulders and his nose on the rail. This feels horribly wrong and crooked, but it has become my new normal. JL assures me that when I ride him this way, he is actually quite straight. Once he is "straight," I can then work the inside rein for some bend and flexion. JL points out that to the right, I have to actually ride outside leg to inside hand. Very non-traditional, I know, but it works.

As long as he is straight, I can ask almost anything of him, and he is happy to try. In order to come out of a turn and canter the long side on the right lead, I have to:

1. maintain that straightness by keeping my outside leg back to keep his haunches from falling out;
   
2. hold that outside rein very firm and steady;
3. encourage him to step away from the rail;
4. add inside leg to keep him going forward;
5. and finally, work the inside rein to remind him that I want to stay on the right lead. If he gets long in his neck or gets his nose to the outside of his haunches, he falls into a trot and swaps leads.

To see this all taking place, you would think that Sydney is quite lazy and slow. It took a massive amount of leg and rein on my part to get him out of the turn and down the long side. But once we passed the point where he could have continued on the circle, his stride got freerer and he let go through is neck.

The greatest part to all of this is that Sydney is still a difficult horse to ride. He's reactive, a bit spooky, and wants to bolt, but now that I can keep him between my aids, his moments of anxiety are getting shorter and shorter and are over with as soon as I sit back and give a strong half halt. I no longer have any Oh, sh*t! moments (although I am sure that I just jinxed myself).

I am so excited by what we're doing together. There is a schooling show in two weeks, and I am really hoping that we can go. There are still some questions about trainer availability, show location, and over-nighting that I have to clear up first, but if all of that works out, Sydney and I are primed to actually put together a decent dressage test. 

I hope.

After our less than pleasant lesson on Wednesday, I rode again on Thursday and Friday. Initially, I was worried that the leap and rear might come back, but nothing like that happened. Sydney was his handsome, Captain Awesome self.

He had the weekend off since I was out of town, but he got turned out to run and play on Sunday. By Monday morning, I had actually forgotten all about Wednesday's trouble until JL asked me about the rest of last week's rides. She was glad to hear that the drama seemed limited to that moment in time.

I don't even know how to write about Monday's lesson without boring the breeches right off you. To say that somebody deserves a pat on the back would be a colossal understatement. All three of us, JL, Sydney, and I have put in a lot of effort over the past three years, and the results are finally being seen.

For the last few lessons, JL has had a very smug cat-who-ate-the-canary look on her face. I actually teased her about it on Monday. As a teacher myself, I know how totally gratifying it is when a student FINALLY gets something. It's hard not to feel proud of yourself, and the feeling is well-deserved. 

She actually made the comment that we had perfect moments during the right lead canter. And there were moMENTS, as in plural, not just a singular occurrence! According to JL, I am finally riding my horse and actually helping him to be balanced.

To the left, my homework is to just continue to get Sydeny to lighten up so that he carries more weight on his hind end, but the canter departures are getting better and prettier. Since we can now walk, trot, and canter (at home), we're going to start working on more changes of direction and cantering the long sides. 

I am really, really proud of what I've been able to do with this horse. JL reminded me on Monday that there would have been no shame in selling him two years ago; that's how difficult of a horse he was. It's not that I didn't know how to ride, I just didn't know how to ride such an anxious ball of tension. I am very glad that I stuck it out with him. He has made me a much better rider.

Ever onward!

No big AHAs happened this week, which is probably a good thing as I have had some pretty big puzzle pieces snapping into place recently, and I am still chewing them over. Even so, the last two lessons did give me lots to think about.

Sydney now has a pretty decent canter departure in both directions. He is consistent about the departures, and we both seem to understand the aids that he needs. What JL wanted us to work on this week, and for the foreseeable future, is the quality of the canter that follows the departure. Nothing mind blowing there, isn't that what dressage is all about?

The work to the left is now focused on two things:

• Sydney needs to be rounder, which means carrying more of his own weight; and …
• I need to keep him cantering without allowing him to fall back into the trot.

Being rounder means getting him to quit hanging on either rein. First, he needs to respect the outside rein. To do this, I need to keep him straighter without worrying about the inside bend, at first. Once he has lightened off that outside rein, I can start working the inside rein to get some inside bend.

And then .. we just canter. He needs to build some muscle for this shorter frame. I don't need to ask for anything else other than that he stay right there. This means a lot of work on my own position. My habit has been to let him pop me out of the tack as he falls onto the forehand and into the trot. No more. It is my job to SIT UP, open my shoulders and be consistent with my leg when he starts to falter.

The work to the right is focused in nearly the same way:

• I don't ask for the canter until I am sure I have his haunches behind his shoulders, and once I ask, I have to be prepared to help him stay balanced from the very first stride.
• I can't ask for any inside bend until his is solidly on the outside rein and listening to it.

If he is not straight, his hind end will shoot to the outside, he'll panic, and then the canter departure goes to sh*t. This happened on Tuesday. He fell out of the canter, and I unthinkingly squeezed him forward without first making sure he was straight. His hind end fish-tailed to the side and he dove into the circle. Rather than insisting he pick up the canter, I brought him to a stop, patted his neck, and let him take a moment to regroup.

A few weeks ago, this loss of balance combined with my poor riding would have sent his brain spinning. Now that I have a better feel for what's going on and know what I need to do to support him, the drama has vanished. I gathered up my reins, had him crab sideways a few steps to straighten him out, and we picked up a quiet and balanced canter. No big deal.

Our homework is pretty simple: for him, wait for my aids; for me, sit up, open my chest, and be clear in my aids. I think we can handle it.