Transitions

Today was a longer arena workout, as tomorrow I work and thus Lily will have the day off; most of this coming week I will be working alternate days. It is rare that I ride her 4 days in a row, because it is even more rare for me to get that many days off in a row from work, but that is why we alternated harder and easier workouts this week.

We worked on transitions from and to the halt today, the first time we had really focused on this outside of a lesson. Lily did great. Since my abs were sore from yesterday (because I'm a workout fiend, I couldn't just stop at the run/walk session, I also had to hit the free weights at home afterwards) I knew exactly when I was using them! Givng with the inside rein when she engages has also produced wonderful results-it is a much better reward for her, much more appreciated and understood, than just patting her on the withers. It is also easier for me to do without undoing everything we've achieved!

We would trot, working on flexion, then halt, back up, then back into a trot. We also did canter-halt-back up-canter transitions, which produced the most WONDERFUL uphill canter! She had never moved like this before. Probably not perfect to someone watching, but I could feel the difference-it is a big step in the right direction. But I realized today just how much she needs to learn the proper canter cue-she knows which lead to pick up on the circle, but halting in the center of the arena and asking to pick up a specific lead brought some confusion on her part. I had to use my seat firmly to cue her as well. We will have to work on polishing this up some more in the future, but for today, she did wonderful. She is so amazingly sensitive, and not in a bad way-she is always paying attention, and any slight shift or movement on my part will cause a reaction on her part as she tries to understand what I'm asking. I have to say that my mare is a joy to ride. I just have to work on cleaning up the way I communicate with her.

We did long free walks in between the more intense parts of today's session so Lily wouldn't get mentally tired. At one point, I had her stand still, and tried to see if I could get her to move just one hind foot at a time, while the rest of her remained still. I touched her belly with my right heel and shifted my weight to get her to move her left hind to the left. The result was her doing a leg yield to the left and then backing up when I asked her to stand. I love her. She tries so hard! I repeated the cue, but a lot more gently this time, and stayed centered in the saddle so she wouldn't think she was supposed to leg yield. She took 2 steps to the left with her hind legs. I gave the cue again, same gentleness, now to the right, and she took the one step. Lots of pats and a loose rein! Again to the left, and she got it! We also worked on reversing; I wanted her to step back as a result of me just shifting my weight backwards. She had improved significantly on this by the end of the session.

Elisabeth joined me in the arena, and after she worked Christa on transitions, we walked the girls around the perimeter, talking. Every once in a while, Lily would get ahead of Christa. I'd shift my weight back, and she'd shift gears, reverse, and then continue forward when I centered my weight again. I gave her a liniment bath afterwards and turned her out to eat grass with Christa. We did treat stretches for her neck, to both sides, her chest, and between her front legs. I then stretched each leg individually. She has gotten used to this and enjoys it; she always touches her face to mine when I'm stretching her front legs. My girl is just about the sweetest horse on the planet, I think.