2/28/10
Dressage Lesson

Nero's been hunting this season, but I'm
going to start putting a bit more time into him
for dressage and eventing.
I worked both him and Miaren. I rode Miaren first,
because I thought he'd be easier. While Miaren surprises
me, because he knows more now than when he went away
at the end of last year, Nero is further along and doesn't take
quite as much work to ride.
So riding them in lessons was a good way to see how much
Nero has come along. I think the fox hunting is good, so that
he doesn't mind the ring work so much.
Forgot and put the hunting bit on, but no curb chain, so only a little added leverage.
 

Fuzzy, fuzzy pony. 
The weather hasn't been ideal for keeping him all trimmed and clean.
Just warming up. A bit short strided to start out.
 
My legs go back a bit on him, too, but his barrel is bigger and they don't feel like they slide back so much.
I know the feel of his hunting trot, and that's the feel that I work towards.
 
Right about there isn't bad for us.
Some canter for warming up. We've got the transition and forward now, but there's a lot to work on.
 
Small trot circle after the canter. Does wonders for balancing us both. Still need to remember to stretch up on the inside and not lean in. Pictures show all the faults.
He loves halting. And I love that he loves halting.
 
We did quite a bit of canter work.
My instructions were to get that inside rein off his neck, use my inside leg and think leg yield to get bend on the circle.
 
Always the circle after and a reminder that we can bend.
It's apparent when riding him, that there's a lot of power available.
 
This isn't bad. The rein isn't touching his neck, he's got bend and is putting that inside hind a bit under his body. The tail switch is probably from the poking spur asking him to bend and the hand probably holding him a bit too much. Right at this point my trainer yelled to soften my elbows, and for two stride we had it. A canter that I could sit in the middle of, with soft hands, between my legs, that just felt easy.
We came back to our trot, gave him a pat, and finished up with a little trot work to wind down. Now I know the feel on him, so the challenge will be to get it for more than two strides and then to go from there.
Both of us tired, but pleased with the lesson.