Show Prep Part 1

This should really be just a lesson recap, but at the end of Sunday's lesson it was decided that I should do an upcoming February show instead of the later March show. All of a sudden I am in show prep mode.

A few days ago, I was tagged by a Facebook friend when she shared a video of an amazing horse. If you can, watch it really quick; it's worth it. If you can't see it, it's a two minute video of a stallion riding shoulder in to half pass and then extended trot. Not just riding it, but killing it. Oh, to ride that just once.

After watching that video, I swear I rode better. And if I didn't actually ride better, I at least rode with a better idea of what I was trying to achieve. During my lesson a few weeks ago, Chemaine Hurtado, owner and trainer at Symphony Dressage Stables told me to start the half pass with a shoulder in. She's been saying that for the better part of a year, but I finally stopped Speedy in his tracks and asked, "You mean a literal shoulder in? Not think shoulder in?"

An unrelated moment from the lesson. It shows Speedy LAUNCHING himself out of the corner and me getting left behind because I wasn't expecting such an effort.

​I could feel her eyes rolling in her head. "YES!" she maybe, sort of shouted. From that moment on, our half pass has done nothing but improve. For so long I've been trying to ride a shoulder in while still in the corner rather than as we come out of the corner. By maintaining the bend through the corner and then riding a shoulder in just past K or F before beginning the half pass, I've been able to position Speedy's body in such a way that I have better control over his haunches. Sometimes I am amazed at how stupid I am.

A stride or two later. He's not round nor is he lifting his back, but I was so unprepared for the power that it was my fault. I ended up bringing him back to a walk and starting over where we got a FABULOUS extended trot.

So on Sunday, when Chemaine watched our half passes, I could hear her shouting gleefully, "Now THAT's what I am talking about! You have a half pass!"

She said that would happen. She swore that eventually it would click for Speedy, and obviously for me too and then suddenly, he'd start working like a Third Level horse. We're finally at that point.

To build on the concept of riding the half pass from a shoulder in, Chemaine had me ride a shoulder in to a half pass, and the second he leaned on my inside leg, immediately back to a shoulder in. Part of the problem has been that I am swapping the shoulders in for the haunches in which is most definitely not how a half pass should be ridden. I need his shoulders and his haunches to stay bent around my inside leg.

That's more like it! Our medium trot may well be our best movement.

We have a week until our next show. There's not much I can dramatically improve on between now and then, but you can bet I am going to be riding that shoulder in to half pass like crazy. 

Tomorrow, a flying change exercise that might give you a headache, but boy was it ever effective!