Saturday, February 07, 2009

the lesson

was in fact a lesson for molly on the lunge - we didn't do any ridden work as she'd worked so hard by then and was tired...

essentially, when we start off and she dawdles then speeds up, i should push her on - and then after a short while she slows herself down and evens up the tempo.

same on both reins

then put the side reins on - still relatively loose - and she remembered everything i'd done with her last night. essentially i'd been doing the right thing, small vibrations on the lunge line - wish i'd had the camera

the only difficulty - which will probably be sorted with more work as she strengthens - is that the inside leg comes across in front of the other hind, rather than tracking straight. some of that is conformation, some of it is accidents in the past, and some of it is lack of correct work in the past..

and again, if she takes herself too far down/tries to overbend, push her on.

then canter. better right rein than left oddly

and the piece de resistance - and coincidental given Caroline has written about the same thing! - medium trot, both reins. I couldn't have got that but RI did, and it was fantastic.

she was impressed with Molly's paces ... as am I, which is why i've persisted for 4 1/2 years! -

and molly was excellent, definitely with us - clearly finding the work easier, and "getting it" in her head....

and the other good bit, we got the best of the day weatherwise, after that the snow showers got worse and when i went back at 5 someone was lunging in the snow!

1 comment:

Jean said...

Great lesson. Not too surprised about the right lead canter. Sometimes the side that appears stiff is actually the stronger side because the horse takes more on that rein by pushing more from behind and bends more easily on the weaker side.

Nice to hear about the medium and the compliments on her gaits. Makes it all worthwhile.

Now that Molly is finding how much more she can do by going on the bit, you are going to have to up your own riding! Time to play catch up with your girl....get ready to canter on, my dear! So happy for you.