All The Kings' Horses

 Gia and I had a dressage lesson with Suzin today.  We started out with a very good stretch down at the walk.   At the trot, I didn't even bother asking for a stretch at first, and I didn't worry about the up transition at first either.  I focused on getting her straight, with a little inside bend, and a little reach into my hands in both directions.  After only a few minutes, Gia was offering a very nice stretch at the trot, probably the best one she's ever given me!   After a little more trot work, we played around with the canter.  She was very relaxed about the canter today, no anticipation or anxiety.  We mainly focused on trying to get the up transition without her inverting.  I had to concentrate on getting her to stretch into my hands, and then get the timing right to ask for the transition at the same time.  It was definitely difficult for both of us, but I think we got a couple of moments that were pretty good.  ...

 Gia had a jumping lesson with Hayley at CDP today.  I didn't have time to lunge, but she wasn't too bad.  She was very anxious about the gazebo, but no more than usual.  We had to do a lot of circles whenever she wasn't paying attention to me, and especially when she wanted to get too quick.   Her first few jumps were a bit rushed and hectic, and she made a few bucking attempts afterwards.  Once we started adding more circles into the mix, she started jumping MUCH quieter! After our lesson, one of the other ladies at the barn asked if we wanted to take a brief walk around the pond.  It's about the same size as my pond, and about the same distance from the barn, so not a very far walk, but it would be Gia's first time walking outside the arena and outside any fences.  Walking with another, more experienced horse is always a plus because it helps the younger, less experienced horse to relax a little bit and gives them a little confidence....

 Today's session with Gia went much like last Monday's session.  She was a little lazy on the lunge, but extremely obedient!  To get her a little more pumped, I lunged her over some jumps.  I will most likely not lunge her on Wednesday, if she comes in quiet again. Under saddle, she stretched really well at the walk, but not as good at the trot.  I did a lot of walk trot transitions to work on getting more stretch.  It was a tiny bit better by the end, but definitely not a huge improvement. Since she was pretty quiet with all the transitions, I asked for a little canter work in each direction.  Once I got her straight, I asked for the canter, and she was very prompt and obedient with the transition, and had no problem at all with her leads in either direction.  Her first canter in each direction was a little excited, but on the second one, she relaxed and I was able to ask her for more straightness and stretch. I finished our ride with a little bi...

 I did not get a chance to lunge Gia before her lesson with Suzin this morning, but she was actually quite relaxed, and maybe a little lazy.  She had quite a good stretch at the walk in the beginning. When we picked up to work on the trot, Suzin had us start to work on baby shoulder-in's and circles.  As soon as Gia would take even the smallest step towards shoulder-in, we would circle to give her a release.  She will gradually start to take on more shoulder-in as she gets stronger. Suzin also had me work on being more still, in general.  It's a LOT harder to do than it sounds!  Once I was more still, I could better feel what Gia "wanted" to do.  Which, today, was to slow down and be a bit lazy.  Then I was able to make better corrections.  After working on getting her more in front of my leg, she had a much nicer, more relaxed and stretchier trot. When we added the canter work, she stayed quite relaxed, and had some of her best transitions!...

 I was on my own with Gia today at CDP.  I started out with a little bit of lunging in the dressage arena.  She was actually quite lazy.  She was also a lot more relaxed for our ride.  I have a theory on that.  More at the end. Anyway, after a bit of trotting and cantering on the lunge, I hopped on and right away she started stretching down.  We did a little at the walk, stretching down and leg yielding, staying busy.  Then I asked her for the same at the trot.  We had to do a few transitions before she was prompt to my cue.  She didn't stretch down as well at the trot, but it wasn't bad.   We worked all over the ring, going over poles and small jumps as they came up in our path.  She was quite lazy at first, and didn't really pick her feet up.  I put her over a little bit bigger jump, and then she started picking her feet up and landing at the canter.   Whenever she landed at the canter, we played around wi...

 I started Gia's session today with lunging again.  She was super obedient and responsive, and really seems to understand what is expected of her on the lunge line.  Her canter work was even pretty relaxed. Under saddle, I worked on getting her to stretch down at the walk and trot.  She stretched pretty good at the walk, but not as good at the trot.  I also worked on trying to keep her together during the walk/trot transitions.  That went a little better today. She didn't anticipate cantering at all, so I allowed her to do some work on the canter, a little in each direction.  She was a little excited, but no bucking today.  I focused on keeping her head up and keeping her straight.  She gave me a lot of nice moments at the canter today! To finish up our ride, I wanted to go back and do some trot work, after having cantered, and see if she could keep herself together and not try to canter on her own.  She did so well with it that I asked ...

 I lunged Gia again today before I rode her.  She was VERY obedient on the lunge.  She definitely understands what's going on there! Under saddle, we started with stretching down at the walk, and she was very responsive and relaxed and stretchy. When I moved her into the trot, she did not stretch down as well, and she was a bit tense at first.  I had cantered her on the lunge line, and she was anticipating the canter under saddle.  I had to bring her back a few times, and do several small circles before she relaxed a bit.   Then I worked on getting her to maintain the stretch as I asked her to pick up the trot.  That was a lot harder for her, but we did manage to get one transition that was half way decent.  Finally, to reward all her hard work, I allowed one canter transition in each direction.  She had no problem picking up the correct lead both ways, and they were both lovely transitions to boot!  Possibly the nicest canter trans...