Recognizing the Good

Now that I realize that Izzy is not the one holding us back, I am studying my own riding through a completely different lens. When Izzy is good, it's a reflection of my riding. When Izzy resembles a camelephant, that too is a reflection of my riding. Instead of watching my weekly videos and focusing on what he is doing, I am now looking to see what I am doing. 

I can't wait to see how much he weighs later this month. Big brown horse is getting bigger!

There's a lot that I can be doing better, but I am also making sure that I acknowledge what I am doing well. For most of this week's video, Izzy looked more and more rideable. We still have our awkward moments for sure, but the spooks are slowly disappearing, and the off balance moments are getting less frequent. And when he does lose his balance, he's able to right the ship more quickly. That means that I am doing a better job of navigating.

His walk is even getting better!

So much has improved over the past year. His walk is looking much more relaxed, and his tail is even beginning to swing. His legs are also crossing farther and farther ...

His halts and reinback are so improved that I can't believe I am riding the same horse. He halts square almost every time. I can definitely thank Sean Cunningham, own and trainer and STC Dressage for that. In Sean's world, every single moment of the ride should be achieving something, even if it is just learning to stand square. I have adopted many of Sean's mini lessons into my daily riding.

It's always a work in progress, but Izzy is learning that he can carry his own head and doesn't need to push his underneck muscles against me.

We don't have a medium trot yet, but Izzy is now able to cross the diagonal without completely bracing his neck as he does so.

And if I really ride him well, he can actually reach a bit further and hold it for a few strides. Not always of course, but the jackhammer is nearly a thing of the past.

Now that the trot work has improved so much, we're trying to improve the canter. Sean is encouraging me to use more bending lines, counter flexion, and especially counter canter to help Izzy let go through his back in the canter. The better I can ride these movements, the better Izzy feels.

For a long time we had no right lead canter. Then we had a lovely right lead canter, so I worked hard on the left. Now the left lead is again better than the right.

I am definitely not a Fourth Level rider yet, and it was only because of Speedy's giving nature that I could call myself a Third Level rider. However, I firmly believe that where there's a will, there's a way. 

I may never get back to Third, and Fourth might only be a pipe dream, but at least I am enjoying the ride.