- A much more collected canter. This has been a goal for a long time, and hopefully by the end of the year we'll be there if not close. Instructor said that her canter looks really nice for our level, so I'll take her word for it. And looking at in the mirror it looks pretty nice.
- Trot lengthening and shortening. Least of our worries at the moment.
- We need more drive from behind and work on rounding out Greta's back. This will also be a long-term goal, I imagine. It sure will be.
- I want to start doing a lot of lounge work - so I can see how she looks on the ground before I hop on her - and walk work - so we can work on more advanced things such as shortening and lengthening and shoulder-in at a slower pace. Check!
- Continue lunge work and walk work, particularly a more energetic walk!
- Keep my toes from pointing down when I'm really using my leg. Oops!
- Improve my seat (I tend to want to sit on my left seat bone when we leg yield to the left and my right seat bone when going to the right. It's the other way around!)
- Continue working on rounding out and straightening Greta's body at the walk and trot.
- Continue working on leg yields and turns on the forehand.
- Continue working on getting more drive from behind.
"Xenophon was the first one to claim that horses can become only more beautiful with correct training, never uglier. I would like to add to this that if the horse becomes uglier in the course of his work, it is the unmistakable proof for a wrong... training."
"Improve my seat (I tend to want to sit on my left seat bone when we leg yield to the left and my right seat bone when going to the right. It's the other way around!)"
ReplyDeletetry to imagine that when you are doing shoulder-in or leg-yield that there is an invisible fishing line that is attached to your hip and pulls you toward the direction you want to go, you might feel silly but when you imagine this and practise it a lot your seat-bones will start behaving. it's like a mind trick.
good luck!!