Gia - session 250 - more dressage

I did more of the same with Gia today.

We started out with a very nice stretch at the walk, circling and riding figures all over the ring.

When I picked up the trot, the transition wasn't that great, and she felt a little excited in her tempo.  I worked on getting her to relax into a better rhythm, and then stretch into my hands a little.  Then we worked on bending on circles until she felt a little looser in her neck and body.  

Next, we worked on the shoulder-in work that we had been doing the other day.  I started with it at the walk, and when she was fairly responsive to my cues, I moved on to the trot.  After a step or two of shoulder-in, I circled her, then came back to the rail and asked for another step of shoulder-in.  We continued like that until she felt fairly responsive to my cue.

After a short break, I went back to working on shoulder-in, but this time, when she gave it to me, I straightened her on the rail and asked for a lengthening.  The first couple in each direction weren't that great, but I did get at least one in each direction that felt pretty good.  Once she understood what I was asking her to do, she was eager to give it to me.

There were several places where Gia was getting out of rhythm and thinking about cantering, so I did not canter her today.  There will be plenty of time to work on that down the road when she isn't anticipating it so bad.  

Also, we typically tack her up under the barn in our main cross tie area.  But the vet was out today, so things were a little hectic there.  Instead, Gia had to stand at the tie area I have under a tree.  Change can be hard for horses, but she stood very quietly there waiting for her turn.  She is really growing up!