Lesson Wrap Up

We had our first lesson today since April! It was well needed, and such a treat. Apparently my dressage position has improved (as I hoped it had) and is quite decent. We worked mostly on our trot, finding a consistent forward tempo and rhythm while having Rose stretching down through her poll into contact. It was the lightest she has ever been on the bit, and I loved every moment of it! Definitely an "ah-ha" moment. After that we worked on our trot/canter transitions that have been irking me for a while now. I thought our big issue was the downward transition, but apparently that's linked to our upward transition, during which Rose tends to throw up her head and hallow her back and GO. So, we worked on asking for a nice quiet but forward trot and then a very subtle canter transition, while keeping her stretching down and accepting contact. In the end we had some rather nice transitions both up and down! Lots of homework to keep working on, but I am invigorated again and feel like we have a focused direction to work in once again.

Happy trails and swooshing tails!