DLB November Part 2
Nov. 13th, 2022 02:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickWhere November Part 1 was warm enough to ride in a polo shirt, November Part 2 had me breaking out the wool sweater I made, my recently made mitts, the fuzzy-on-the-inside breeches, etc. I didn't have all my winter stuff (neck/face warmer, layered underarmor, etc. Also note to self, need to come up with helmet addition for warmer face-ears.) on but I had a lot of it.
It was pretty darned cold. I gave up on No-Heat November today, too, because it was a high of 40F. I cannot do no heat in those daytime temperatures. Got a fire going right now.
Anyway.
With the pouring rain on Friday, the ring footing (outdoor) was soft for Sunday. With the rather brisk temperatures, Bird was a bit wind-up-the-butt too, which gave me more forward, too. (I should probably train in some more forward but as a soft and floppy middle aged adult ammie rider, that's not likely.) The brisk wind did not help me be warm, but you take what you can get in this world.
At last week we had worked on directives for winter work. The directives from last week were largely "things the horse should be doing". Like, stuff to do with the horse, focus on horse Doing the Things. And that's fine.
This week, the directives were more "things the rider should be doing" with a particular emphasis on evenness and rider's hips being even and same. Shoulder-hip alignment was mentioned, quieter seat, better help/support for horse's canter work, better and less-disruptive cues to embiggen and ensmallen the gaits, that style of thing.
It's easier for me to get the horse to do the thing than to focus on my position, aids, yadda yadda yadda. Self-assessment is not my fave which is probably why I still ride for shit. However, DLB was very encouraging (as per usual) about our efforts and did point out improvements in quality of work done by horse when I"m more-correct. She was also careful to mention that I wasn't wrong in my corrections and stuff, just that they could be more-correct and and more-subtle and that we were now doing this because I was stable enough and aware enough and had enough control to BE more correct these days. So, okay. We got stuff to work on, there.
Directives to remember: Hips even and centered under shoulders. Left hip in particular tries to wander off. In transitions, even transitions within gait, be super careful not to sit too far back. Think more "forward and then landing in new spot". Better balance & freedom of movement in embiggen/ensmallen games for walk and trot happen if you sort of feather into the new gait effort. Let it develop over a few strides, and only as much as horse can handle.
It was pretty darned cold. I gave up on No-Heat November today, too, because it was a high of 40F. I cannot do no heat in those daytime temperatures. Got a fire going right now.
Anyway.
With the pouring rain on Friday, the ring footing (outdoor) was soft for Sunday. With the rather brisk temperatures, Bird was a bit wind-up-the-butt too, which gave me more forward, too. (I should probably train in some more forward but as a soft and floppy middle aged adult ammie rider, that's not likely.) The brisk wind did not help me be warm, but you take what you can get in this world.
At last week we had worked on directives for winter work. The directives from last week were largely "things the horse should be doing". Like, stuff to do with the horse, focus on horse Doing the Things. And that's fine.
This week, the directives were more "things the rider should be doing" with a particular emphasis on evenness and rider's hips being even and same. Shoulder-hip alignment was mentioned, quieter seat, better help/support for horse's canter work, better and less-disruptive cues to embiggen and ensmallen the gaits, that style of thing.
It's easier for me to get the horse to do the thing than to focus on my position, aids, yadda yadda yadda. Self-assessment is not my fave which is probably why I still ride for shit. However, DLB was very encouraging (as per usual) about our efforts and did point out improvements in quality of work done by horse when I"m more-correct. She was also careful to mention that I wasn't wrong in my corrections and stuff, just that they could be more-correct and and more-subtle and that we were now doing this because I was stable enough and aware enough and had enough control to BE more correct these days. So, okay. We got stuff to work on, there.
Directives to remember: Hips even and centered under shoulders. Left hip in particular tries to wander off. In transitions, even transitions within gait, be super careful not to sit too far back. Think more "forward and then landing in new spot". Better balance & freedom of movement in embiggen/ensmallen games for walk and trot happen if you sort of feather into the new gait effort. Let it develop over a few strides, and only as much as horse can handle.
