The Simulator

So? How did the simulator go?

All I can so is wow, wow, wow! That was by far the best lesson money I have spent. If you live anywhere near Ventura, or you hear that Luke will be in your area, I strongly urge you to give him a try.

The Ventura County Chapter of CDS put on a really nice clinic. They had lunch both days, although I didn't stay on Sunday to eat, and all of the participants were super friendly. The clinic was held at Spirit Equestrian which is quite the lovely facility. Check out their website.

I snapped a few photos of the grounds on Sunday, but my photos don't do the place justice.

One of MANY barns on the property

We thought these outside runs were interesting.

One of the dressage courts - there were 8 mirrors!

A very nice hot walker.

I was in the afternoon session. Barbro Ask-Upmark started with a brief lecture explaining how Luke came to be and how he works. Since I was first, I tossed my saddle up and cinched him up. He has such a live presence that it was weird to cinch him up so matter-of-factly without worrying about pinching him.

The first part of the ride was simply about assessing the rider's balance. Barbro set Luke to walk, trot, and canter for one minute. My job was to sit like I normally do and hold the reins. There was no need to steer or use my legs. At the end of the minute, Barbro printed out my results so that I could see what I needed to work on.

Here's a photo of one of the other riders during her lesson.

Barbro on the left with Julia aboard Luke

My core proved to be pretty stable, but Barbro helped me lengthen my spine. The simulator also showed that my left leg is weaker than my right; my left hand is stronger than my right; and my right wrist is blocking the flow of energy.

During the first day, Barbro helped me with my pelvis position, rock it back, and had me work on taking a firmer hold of the reins, a necessity for establishing a good, steady contact which is an area I've really needed to work on. The second day we focused on contact and maintaining the contact while steering. I discovered that I hold the left rein too long in the turn.  

More tomorrow, including a video.