Gia - session 123 - diagonal lines, and no lunging!

For the last several sessions, Gia has been super with her energy and work ethic, both on the lunge and under saddle.  So today, I decided to forego the lunging and just hop right on.

She was fantastic!

I think she was a little surprised, at first, that we didn't start with the lunging, but she was only quick for a few steps at the walk, and then a few steps at the trot.

We started with a lot of walk work to warm up.

I started with circles since they were familiar and easy.  They went pretty well, so I moved on the centerline, with 10m circles before and after, as well as walk/halt transitions.  Her centerlines were MUCH straighter today, but the halts still took a while.

Then we moved on to centerlines and circles at the trot.  This was also MUCH better today.

Finally, I added diagonal lines at the walk today.  

Basic diagonal lines go from letter H to letter F (or vice versa), or letter M to letter K.  You can also go across short diagonal lines - F to E, K to B, M to E, H to B, P to S, R to V.  There are a ton of different combinations.  We stuck with the basic ones for today.

When teaching diagonal lines, I always tell my students to focus more on getting deep into the corners before and after the line, rather than the line itself.  I did the same with Gia, and she was super!  I was prepared to use 10m circles in the corners the way I had used them on and off centerlines, but she never needed them.  The diagonal lines were very straight as well!

I finished up our ride with a few more walk/halt transitions.  Our last one was quite good - she was very obedient and responsive, and she was even squared up in her hind legs (meaning that both her hind legs were side by side rather than one being more forward and the other more back).  In dressage tests, we will be judged on whether or not our halts are "square", meaning all 4 legs are equally underneath her body, with the back legs side by side, and the front legs side by side.  This is something that Butch has always struggled with.  Gia was half way there today!

After our ride, I also pulled Gia's mane again.  She started out a bit fidgety and fussy, but eventually settled down, and almost fell asleep while I pulled!

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