Gia - session 127 - Shoulder-in at the walk and becoming more flexible
I opted to ride Gia without lunging today, but looking back, I do think I should have lunged.
Don't worry, nothing bad happened.
She seemed a bit tight in the crossties. I shifted her saddle, and retightened her girth, and she braced against it. She also braced against me asking her to move forward and back. Walking out to the arena, she startled a little at something I couldn't see, and darted a little quickly. When I got on, she felt tight and against my hand, and not wanting to relax or stretch or release to my stretching aids. After about 8 minutes of asking for bend and stretch, she finally let go, and we went about the rest of our ride like normal. Like I said, nothing bad happened, but I want her to have better experiences.
Looking forward, I will try to be more alert for these signs, and be prepared to CHANGE MY PLAN.
I felt the need to capitalize that last part, not for you guys, although feel free to take it if you need it, but rather for myself.
In the mornings, in my head, I plan how my day will go. Which horses I'll ride, what I will work on with each one that day, and how each ride will end up.
One of my own personal struggles is my lack of flexibility in my plan.
The good news is that the horses are constantly helping me with my self-improvement. ☺
One day I'll have it figured out ....
The rest of our ride went pretty well. Once I got Gia to stretch down at the walk, we worked on diagonal lines (only a few circles were needed to the right), and centerlines (many circles were needed to the right), and then we worked on shoulder-in at the walk. I could tell you all about it, but I really think the Wikipedia link says it pretty well, and it gives you a good picture or what is supposed to happen.
In watching the video that Danielle took today of Gia's baby shoulder-in, you will barely be able to see it, but she does get 1-2 steps that are correct.
In watching the video myself, I was able to pull out a couple of pics where you can see it from the front and back. Despite her being stiffer to the right, she gives me her most correct shoulder-in that direction. I also noticed that I was sitting a bit crooked, with my shoulders lower on one side than the other, so I will be more aware of that next time.
When we moved into the trot, I started with circles in each direction, but I focused on bending to the right more than the left.
When those were better, we did diagonal lines (still only needed a couple of circles to the right), and centerlines (still needed several circles to the right), and we finished with walk/halt transitions.
I felt her think about halting as we came down centerline, at the walk, towards the end. I did not ask for the halt then, but I was glad to know she was thinking about it. It took a few tries to get a fairly straight and obedient halt, but there was no swinging of her hind end to the right today!
Don't worry, nothing bad happened.
She seemed a bit tight in the crossties. I shifted her saddle, and retightened her girth, and she braced against it. She also braced against me asking her to move forward and back. Walking out to the arena, she startled a little at something I couldn't see, and darted a little quickly. When I got on, she felt tight and against my hand, and not wanting to relax or stretch or release to my stretching aids. After about 8 minutes of asking for bend and stretch, she finally let go, and we went about the rest of our ride like normal. Like I said, nothing bad happened, but I want her to have better experiences.
Looking forward, I will try to be more alert for these signs, and be prepared to CHANGE MY PLAN.
I felt the need to capitalize that last part, not for you guys, although feel free to take it if you need it, but rather for myself.
In the mornings, in my head, I plan how my day will go. Which horses I'll ride, what I will work on with each one that day, and how each ride will end up.
One of my own personal struggles is my lack of flexibility in my plan.
The good news is that the horses are constantly helping me with my self-improvement. ☺
One day I'll have it figured out ....
The rest of our ride went pretty well. Once I got Gia to stretch down at the walk, we worked on diagonal lines (only a few circles were needed to the right), and centerlines (many circles were needed to the right), and then we worked on shoulder-in at the walk. I could tell you all about it, but I really think the Wikipedia link says it pretty well, and it gives you a good picture or what is supposed to happen.
In watching the video that Danielle took today of Gia's baby shoulder-in, you will barely be able to see it, but she does get 1-2 steps that are correct.
In watching the video myself, I was able to pull out a couple of pics where you can see it from the front and back. Despite her being stiffer to the right, she gives me her most correct shoulder-in that direction. I also noticed that I was sitting a bit crooked, with my shoulders lower on one side than the other, so I will be more aware of that next time.
When we moved into the trot, I started with circles in each direction, but I focused on bending to the right more than the left.
When those were better, we did diagonal lines (still only needed a couple of circles to the right), and centerlines (still needed several circles to the right), and we finished with walk/halt transitions.
I felt her think about halting as we came down centerline, at the walk, towards the end. I did not ask for the halt then, but I was glad to know she was thinking about it. It took a few tries to get a fairly straight and obedient halt, but there was no swinging of her hind end to the right today!
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