Each time I have a lesson with Chemaine Hurtado, owner and trainer at Symphony Dressage Stables, I ask what's the one thing that I really need to focus on. Knowing that my sitting trot still needs work, she (jokingly) suggested I ride without stirrups. Since I never do anything half-assed, I took her suggestion to heart and pulled my stirrups off my saddle.
Something is missing.
Simply crossing them over Speedy's withers made it too easy to drop them back down. Yanking them off meant I had to tough it out, and I have. For several weeks I've been running through all of the movements at Second Level including the medium trot and counter canter without stirrups.
Oh, how I miss you!
The two things I am focusing on are 1) letting my legs hang without gripping, and 2) resting on my seat bones. I can't say yet whether it's helping, but I figure it can't hurt.
