I find myself wondering when this important lesson will finally sink in enough that I remember! Staying centered on D's back is apparently critical to his ability to move at any given moment with lightness and balance. This was evident yesterday...
We started out in the round pen with alittle lunging just to loosen his muscles. This consisted of a few minutes medium walk and then some brief trot. From there after it was walk-trot trot-walk transitions, as I've noticed I can keep an eye on how balanced he is and whether he's truly using his back end or not better. He was more energetic due to the light rain falling, a thunderstorm had swept over right before I arrived so he was more alert than normal. I found I was much more excited about his alert mood though than nervous. A good step for me, I see now that his moods and reactions can be channeled (hopefully into some really great self carriage =p ) in a positive way.
Riding was great, his walk was forward & active, except for his constant looky-ness at the two deer down in the back field. They interested him alot...
We got some very good leg yields off before anything else and I could feel him fairly loose under me. Surprising considering I'm still expecting him to be quite stiff from all the new hilly terrain he constantly navigates. Determined not to make this a long ride though, I quickly moved us into trot and canter.
Trot was not surprisingly off, as usual. It hasn't been truly good since December. I still don't know what the main contributing factor is but I know several possibilities: bad saddle fit, sore back, sore neck, sore hooves. Probably his back though... I don't say all this lazilly - I really am trying to make him comfortable. I try to limit riding in that saddle more than once a week. It's just that $900 for a new (or used) saddle is alot of money to save for a broke person. =(
The canter however was the magic of the evening...
At first he didn't want to, period. He was acting dead to my light aids. I'm trying to get away from the legs aids and gripping with my thights/legs. I finally changed direction to his good side (clockwise) and he enthusiastically leaped into a canter, much to my surprise. His front end came up as much as he's capable of right now but unfortunately braced itself there against me as he tried to take control and bolt off due to enthusiasim. We had a moment of deep seated 'words' on my part as I half halted back down to a bumpy trot then walk. We changed directions again now that he was anticipating the canter, back to his hard side. I'm determined to work this side more than the other in hopes of strengthening that weaker stifle again. I had lengthened my stirrups considerably and was working very hard on proper classical seat position, upright as a broomstick 24/7 with an elastic centered seat. While tempting to tip inwards or forwards into the canter transition I restrained myself and as soon as I did the canter came... just like that. Barely even a movement from me, just a thought. Again the canter got hoppy and bolty down the long side, but after a few more breaks and tries it became clear he could much more easily strike off into canter on his hard side if I was sitting up and centered on the saddle. He couldn't make it but halfway around the ring before he simply lost his balance though, we fell back into a nasty jarring trot everytime, his hindquarters swinging in terribly. (bad habit of his) The same went for his good side once we retried. Transitions were quick and clean so long as I was upright & balanced. One time I got left behind by the sudden transition but I think that's better than the alternative.
In other observations I still notice I seem to have very little effectiveness in the canter with my position over all. I guess a big flaw on mine in the past 6 years has been learning to stay quiet in the canter by grip instead of balance. I balanced, but only because I was gripping. Now that grip is eliminated and I aim to let my leg dangle as they please while my abs do the work of keeping me supple and upright at the same time, my whole body wants to seize up and fails to cooaperate. X_X I'm dissapointed, I thought I was a better rider than that. I'm also having alot of trouble being soft in the hands/reins but still connecting the hands & elbows to my torso. Eventing taught me to let the elbows be elastic shock absorbers. Dressage later taught me to anchor them to my seat & waist for a more unified oneness in my body's signals to the horse. I took the time to work on my seat though and I dare say there was alittle improvement. Instead of concentrating on sticking to the saddle like glue, which I find impossible currently - I concentrated on minimal movement of Diego, not the saddle itself. Allowing my pelvis to rock very slightly back and forth and not stay so stiff seemed to aleviate the bouncing. I don't really know if this is good in the long run or not, but anything to alleviate the possible bouncing on D's back right now without gripping is a plus to me...
So two encouraging things out of what could have been an icky night (with the rain). The only thing I'm currently discouraged about is my more recent habit of freedom with D. I had gotten where I rarely tied him, as I liked being able to have the type relationship where he was actually willing to stand with me to be groomed, tacked etc without force. Unfortunately right now he is just not trustworthy enough =/ maybe my expectations are unrealistic, he's still in a new place. I just feel bad tying him up constantly. But let's face the facts... this is someone's property and were he to get a whim that he could he'd run right up into their garage or down the driveway to the road, and we really can't have that.
Grooming and tacking up in the ring had occured to me, although it requires me to lug alot of stuff down that hill... it would give him the freedom to roam though. The rings is wonderfully flat and a nice place with views.
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