Went tracking with Toe on Saturday. J put in 3 tracks for him that were a bit shorter to get him going - he has a hard time starting but once he's going, he GOES! He nails his right turns and struggles a bit with left turns. I suppose just like us they have one side that is better than the other. I'm learning to read his body language and as in all things animal, J tells me the biggest obstacle to Toe's success will be his handler - me! grin.
Met with our tax guy Saturday afternoon which always makes me nervous even tho' all was fine and we don't owe. "shew!"
Training with Sera Sunday morning went well- she is really "ON" right now. Soft, round, really through ... we ended our lesson with canter half pass down the center line to the wall, a couple strides in counter canter and a flying change.
She still kicks out when I ask for the change but it's becoming less.
All things sort of begin ugly and with practice, muscle building and mental understanding they become pretty. Probably that way for most things we learn... no one does much of anything perfectly the first time.
We laughed together because Rex said when she tells me to do the flying changes now, my eyes don't get huge anymore. I'm sure we - her students - are quite entertaining.
I don't argue and I always do my best to do what she tells me to do tho' I've never had much of a poker face and much of what we work on now is new to me and new to Sera. I always wonder if we CAN do it so I bet the looks that pass across my face are pretty hilarious.
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5 comments:
WooHoo! Sounds great with Sera! I had never heard of counter canter until the past few years when reading about dressage. I saw a bumper sticker once that described my knowledge to a 'T'-
"One man's wrong lead is another man's counter canter"!
Grin - yes, there is MUCH about other disciplines I would have no idea what they are talking about too!
Sera was a bit notorious for bringing her haunches in down the long side in a canter - worse at shows - the counter canter work really helped straighten her!
Then it felt bizzare to me cuz I got used to sitting on a crooked horse - when she finally straightened it felt crooked to me. My seat is better ed-ja-ma-cated now...
Sounds so counter-intuitive doesn't it to be on the wrong lead but it's another instance of that outside, counter-bend helping them out of their crookedness.
So cool this stuff!!
Never thought about the counter canter as an 'outside bend' before. That is very interesting... I'm really having fun with this whole bending and straightness thing. I still can't believe how much the outside rein does!
I really admire your determination. It's great that you're making improvements week by week. Actually sounds like a lot of fun. I've always wanted to learn how to ride...
As long as you're having fun, and it sounds like you're having a blast, that's what counts. As for the counter canter helping straighten out your horse, it makes me think about any horse that has problems picking up a lead.
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