Gia - session 126 - Added diagonal lines at the trot
I hopped on Gia with no lunging today. She was only very slightly quicker and more tense, but not much and not for long.
I started with encouraging her to stretch down and quiet her walk. She was a little stiff with that today, so I decided to start introducing baby shoulder-ins to encourage her to loosen up, bend and stretch. I'll give you more details on Monday regarding the shoulder-in. I wasn't planning on doing it today, so I wasn't prepared to video that aspect of things. It was just one of those things that I thought would help after we got going. And it really did! She responded very positively, and very quickly to my request, and was stretching down pretty good! I will definitely be videoing that move at my next ride!
Then I worked on centerline at the walk. That part was pretty easy today.
When we started trotting, I worked with her on centerlines at the trot. They weren't bad, but I did have to use a lot of small circles before and after the centerlines, especially to the right. The centerlines themselves were quite good though!
Next, we worked on diagonal lines at the walk. Those were pretty easy, but I did need a few circles to the right, before and after.
My video today is on her diagonal lines at the trot. They aren't much different than the diagonal lines at the walk, or even centerlines. As long as I can get her to have a correct, balanced, bent corner, the line will be just fine.
You may notice in my video that I linger a little longer on the rail, after the corner and before the diagonal line, than is typical. I often have jumps or poles scattered around my arena, and rather than move them out of the way, I usually just work around them. My main concern with the diagonal lines is that I have a good corner. After that, I want to make sure I am lined up with the letter across the arena, so that I have a good corner afterwards, so to avoid some jumps, I am turning a little late in two spots.
Just as with the centerlines, Gia needs a little help in her corners, especially to the right. It's pretty much the exact same turn in both figures, so that is really no surprise.
Finally, we finished up with some walk/halt transitions on centerline. She was a bit resistant to halt today, no better or worse than last time. Although, when she stopped, she did swing her hind end to the right. I ended up having to block that last minute move with my right leg. It took her several tries, but her last halt was more obedient and much straighter!
I started with encouraging her to stretch down and quiet her walk. She was a little stiff with that today, so I decided to start introducing baby shoulder-ins to encourage her to loosen up, bend and stretch. I'll give you more details on Monday regarding the shoulder-in. I wasn't planning on doing it today, so I wasn't prepared to video that aspect of things. It was just one of those things that I thought would help after we got going. And it really did! She responded very positively, and very quickly to my request, and was stretching down pretty good! I will definitely be videoing that move at my next ride!
Then I worked on centerline at the walk. That part was pretty easy today.
When we started trotting, I worked with her on centerlines at the trot. They weren't bad, but I did have to use a lot of small circles before and after the centerlines, especially to the right. The centerlines themselves were quite good though!
Next, we worked on diagonal lines at the walk. Those were pretty easy, but I did need a few circles to the right, before and after.
My video today is on her diagonal lines at the trot. They aren't much different than the diagonal lines at the walk, or even centerlines. As long as I can get her to have a correct, balanced, bent corner, the line will be just fine.
You may notice in my video that I linger a little longer on the rail, after the corner and before the diagonal line, than is typical. I often have jumps or poles scattered around my arena, and rather than move them out of the way, I usually just work around them. My main concern with the diagonal lines is that I have a good corner. After that, I want to make sure I am lined up with the letter across the arena, so that I have a good corner afterwards, so to avoid some jumps, I am turning a little late in two spots.
Just as with the centerlines, Gia needs a little help in her corners, especially to the right. It's pretty much the exact same turn in both figures, so that is really no surprise.
Finally, we finished up with some walk/halt transitions on centerline. She was a bit resistant to halt today, no better or worse than last time. Although, when she stopped, she did swing her hind end to the right. I ended up having to block that last minute move with my right leg. It took her several tries, but her last halt was more obedient and much straighter!
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