It's been a tough few weeks with work where it's affected my sleep and then the sleep has in turn affected my ability to concentrate at work and the cycle goes on. I was pretty tired for Thursday's lesson and it might have been the first time I actually thought that I didn't really feel like going *gasp!*. But, as usual, once I get there and I see Ariel and start brushing her, whatever was bothering me melts away and I'm just at the stable to learn.
I started flat work at the trot with circles, and straightness. Not just straight on the long side of the rail, but straightness during turns and circles. I was trying so much, trying to remember to sit up with my open chest towards the sky and my shoulders down my back but giving with my hands as much as possible. It sounds like a total oxymoron! Going straight was not working out as well as I wanted.. Circles had Ariel falling in and I wasn't keeping her to the edges of the circle. It was "more inside leg!!". The last exercise I was working on was a simple X jump... and I was having problems keeping Ariel straight, into the jump! We'd turn okay but then she'd veer off to the right and I'd try to over correct her with the left rein and then we'd jump crooked. I am telling you, jumping straight has suddenly become a challenge. It was a tough last bit and I think both Sheri, Ariel and I finished the lesson a little crabby.
Sunday's lesson was just a continued extension of what I had been working on with lots of turns and straightness. This applied to both the canter and the trot. My body control at the canter is much better than it was before and I don't feel as insecure. But, I also recognize that your body has to be "on" or you'll fall right off. We worked on lots of circles and even the figure 8's at the posting trot. Sheri reminds me that I need more inside leg to keep Ariel from falling in, taking a short-cut or shrinking the circle/turn.
We finished up the Sunday lesson with a simple X jump which we were taking on turns... be it away or towards the barn. The turns were either gradual or sharper where you needed to know where you were going well in advance and had to get your eye on the prize, commit to it and keep watching it as you rode towards it. There was no going back, once you were heading towards that jump! I'm told that although my turns and my route in isn't as clean as it could be, I'm doing better to get through the jump and able to sit up once we land. This is a huge improvement from falling all over the place or being left behind. I finish with the last exercise with a canter into the single jump. And talk about incredibly satisfying when we flew over it cleanly and without a hitch!
Posting Diagonal Jar Tally = 5 x $2.00 = $10.00
To date = $185.00
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