Looking back at my Equilab Tracker, until August 12 I had ridden once in 7 weeks. Between work, haying, farming, and vacation Sierra has had a long hiatus, and after a much needed vaycay I was excited to get home and get back on my pony.
With the Online Dressage Show coming up (Deadline Aug 24, go Enter!!) I decided to bomb through some tests just to get a baseline and some feedback, which means I need to actually ride if I want a semi-decent score. I'm one of two judges and therefor i'll only get a score from the other judge but i'm okay with that as my purpose isn't to try and win.
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| Bribed with cookies |
Yesterday I was about to get on and one of my friends/boarders arrived to see her horse and offered to take some video for me. I haven't had any video other than the video from our Dressage Clinic back in June in literally like, years, and after watching the video from my ride yesterday I have some * serious * work to do. On the plus side, we have been having some issues with our leads and after watching the video's, I am confident that it's 90% my fault and now I can work better to improve things. With the pain of Kidd's retirement still raw, I was worried that her lead problems meant something was wrong.
Having barely ridden the past 2 years or so really takes it's toll on a body and your natural feel. Lately I feel quite foreign on a horse and my fluidity is all but gone. At some point I developed a habit of riding 'backward' in the sense that I seem to pull back rather than push forward, and my hands have gotten jiggly. I also noticed my leg swinging a bit in the Canter, and my infamous wandering hand has returned with a vengeance... but at least now I'm more aware of it, and can work to improve things.
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| OTTB Cow Pony? |
After each ride, I have a routine of brushing, massaging, stretching and liniment to the neck, shoulder, back, hind quarters and major joints and tendons of the legs... but being so out of shape, I have taken to also putting liniment on myself after each ride (seriously) and doing some stretches.
Send Halp
Things to work on (Personal):
- Hands forward
- Solid base (lower leg back)
- More contact in the saddle during canter; don't pump
- Correct Hands
- Keep chest open
- Trust Her
Things to work on (Sierra):
- Soften topline
- Improve suppleness, especially in Canter
- Develop better straightness on the right rein
- Figure out our lead departures
- Improve response to leg aids (especially lateral)
- Improve transitions - drastically
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| I'm Awkward, but she's cute |
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| 2nd Ride back in the tack and I was dead |
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| Supper time! I'll be doing a blog post soon about her weight issues and what i'm feeding now! |
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