Either Pro has discovered his newest evasion or I've actually started to feel what's going on under me, because I could tell Pro was swinging his haunches in on the circle last night. I decided to simplify things a bit and stay mostly on a circle and not confuse him completely. He started out rushing but I got him listening pretty fast and he didn't really complain about collecting. It was actually sort of fun because rather than just bringing him back to a medium walk I asked him to go ahead and collect up at the walk. I always get a kick out of feeling that very deliberate, hesitating walk. Then we tackled the haunches issue. What I noticed is that he actually seemed to do better if I used more inside leg. I don't know if that just helps him establish the correct bend by giving him something to wrap around or what, but it causes issues b/c Kate and I are supposed to be riding almost leg-free. We're not supposed to use constant pressure or squeezing and are just allowed to 'box' him forward. So how do I keep my inside leg on without using pressure? I'll definitely be playing around with that next week to see how little leg I can use. Perhaps I'm using too much outside leg and forcing his butt over? So the answer may be less outside leg rather than more inside. I've been working on being more aware of keeping my outside leg back, so that could very well be the answer.
I also played around with some leg-yielding and shoulder in both on and off the circle. What I found worked great for him was to do a 20m circle but on the long sides of the arena I'd ask him to take 5-6 strides of leg-yield along the fence so that we ended up making ovals. He stayed very steady through the bridle and moved over very nicely doing this, even at the trot. I'm hoping to remember to make this a normal part of the ride for strengthening purposes and also to keep him thinking about what I'm asking for even if we're just on a boring, old circle.
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4 comments:
Sounds like you are doing a good job!
I would first check my inside shoulder. Is it dropping at all? Is it falling out and not giving a clear signal?
You can also try squeezing your upper hip/thigh of the inside leg before laying your inside leg on him. I bet he'll pick up and stay on track.
I agree that it sounds like you are doing a great job! It sounds like you are feeling what is going on to me. What fun to be able to do all of that!
Ah, I love how finicky and nitpicky we can get on the smallest things - it's great because we're REALLY solidifying his basic skills so that he has a great foundation upon which to build. :)
Congrats on your enhanced ability to feel what's going on with his wiggly body! I still struggle with that.
Ah ha! I think my shoulder did play a roll in it. I've been more conscious of that lately and haven't noticed the problem. Of course, that could be because he's been distracting me with more obvious evils (such as "OMG the thing behind the mirror is going to eat me!")
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