Gia - session 89 - Her first lesson with Suzin!
As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, it is extremely important for a rider to have someone helping them out with "eyes on the ground", to help a rider "see" what they are feeling. Since I'm not quite ready to ride Gia off the property, but I still want to have someone coaching us through things, I asked my former dressage instructor, Suzin Daly, if she would be willing to come over and help us out. Suzin was my first dressage instructor, MANY years ago, and also introduced me to eventing, and gave me my first few eventing lessons too! I have a HUGE respect for Suzin, and all she has taught me, but it's been a while since we have worked together, so when she said she would definitely come out to help me, I was ecstatic!
Gia was a bit tense in the beginning, and the first thing Suzin said is that she recommends lunging Gia before every single ride for quite a while, probably several months. She wants Gia to be completely relaxed the moment I get in the saddle, so that I'm not having to overcome the tension while I'm riding her. Since she has been doing this longer than me, and has way more dressage experience than me, and since I am paying her for her opinion 😉, I definitely plan on following her advice. Speaking from the other side, as an instructor, one of my pet peeves is when someone asks me for my advice (which is technically what they are doing when they come to the farm and pay me to give them a lesson), and then doesn't actually take it. As an instructor, it's very frustrating. So, if Suzin says that I need to lunge Gia before every ride, then that's what we will be doing :).
Suzin had us work a lot on stretching down into the walk, and Gia gave me the best free walk that I have gotten so far! She also had me work on sitting much quieter, more symmetrical, and barely using my aids to ask Gia for what I wanted. Gia really started to respond even better too! Then she had us work on bending, counterbending and changing direction on a figure 8 as well as a serpentine. Once we were going pretty well at the walk, we worked on the same things at the trot, and eventually, during transitions. By the end of the ride (which was, by the way, the longest I have ridden Gia thus far), she was moving very relaxed and stretchy, at the walk and trot, and changes of direction, and bending left and right quite well! Gia and I will definitely be working on the homework that Suzin left us with, and hopefully, she will see some nice progress when she comes back out the next time!
Gia was a bit tense in the beginning, and the first thing Suzin said is that she recommends lunging Gia before every single ride for quite a while, probably several months. She wants Gia to be completely relaxed the moment I get in the saddle, so that I'm not having to overcome the tension while I'm riding her. Since she has been doing this longer than me, and has way more dressage experience than me, and since I am paying her for her opinion 😉, I definitely plan on following her advice. Speaking from the other side, as an instructor, one of my pet peeves is when someone asks me for my advice (which is technically what they are doing when they come to the farm and pay me to give them a lesson), and then doesn't actually take it. As an instructor, it's very frustrating. So, if Suzin says that I need to lunge Gia before every ride, then that's what we will be doing :).
Suzin had us work a lot on stretching down into the walk, and Gia gave me the best free walk that I have gotten so far! She also had me work on sitting much quieter, more symmetrical, and barely using my aids to ask Gia for what I wanted. Gia really started to respond even better too! Then she had us work on bending, counterbending and changing direction on a figure 8 as well as a serpentine. Once we were going pretty well at the walk, we worked on the same things at the trot, and eventually, during transitions. By the end of the ride (which was, by the way, the longest I have ridden Gia thus far), she was moving very relaxed and stretchy, at the walk and trot, and changes of direction, and bending left and right quite well! Gia and I will definitely be working on the homework that Suzin left us with, and hopefully, she will see some nice progress when she comes back out the next time!
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