Ty took some video of me riding Beefs today. It was a pretty good ride and I was happy with it, but there is definitely a lot to work on. Mostly me, partially him.
*Sorry for the headless and/or blurry pics. Ty was trying to film me while he was holding Indy. The video came out too choppy to post (serious motion sickness). I just grabbed frames from it and so they're blurry.
A few things we need to work on:
Myself
1. I was sitting off to the right. I actually usually sit a little to the left, but I pulled a muscle in my left thigh. Maybe it'll balance everything out once the muscle heals up....
2. My left leg is still spastic, my knee and toe turning out. I can't blame this on my thigh, I always do it.
3. I need to work on my timing with my driving leg, focusing on the moment right before the hind leg leaves the ground. I do well with this on lateral work, not so much when I'm just going straight and am using it just a split second too late. I am especially struggling with this in the downwards transitions.
4. Stop dropping my outside hand, specifically when we're going to the right.
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| Like this. Apparently my entire left side was just not functioning today. |
5. I am collapsing through my left side a little when I go to the left, though this may have been a little worse due to my thigh. Stretching up was a pretty painful.
6. Stop looking down.
Beefs
A. I need to remember to bring his shoulders in, he's getting slightly lateral. I always ride in a slight shoulder fore, but today we were struggling with this.
B. Keeping him through to the connection more consistently in the downwards transitions. Fixing #3 above should help fix this.
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| Starting to transition down. This one wasn't too bad. (I posted into it because sitting trot wasn't an option today) |
C. Be more insistent that he stays focused on me, I tend to be too tolerant of this. The distractions are short lived, but they need to be almost non-existant. He's not young, time to grow up.
I really believe in fixing yourself to fix your horse. If I'm correct, my horses will be also (for the most part). To ride more balanced I probably need to get back to the chiropractor and get a massage. I'm typing this while sitting here with a Back on Track no-bow wrapped around my thigh and it really is helping. Hopefully that heals up soon. Then I will be able to tell which mistakes are actually coming from habit, not just from hurting.
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| Good boy |
I am also going to try to lose a little weight (I guess I should say that I want to lose some fat because I don't care how much I weigh as long as it's muscle instead of flab) and am going to look into yoga classes to help with my strength and flexibility. I'm not in as good of shape as I need to be. My riding shows it.
There were still really good moments! Beefimeus really wants to please and has an incredible work ethic. He always tries to do what I ask. It's never a fight when I'm trying to get him to understand what I want. He just goes through his list of answers to what I ask him for and when I reward him for the right one, he understands. He doesn't forget what the right answer was. I'm very conscientious to never punish him for a mistake. Correct yes, but no punishment unless he is misbehaving (rarely happens). He likes his job and I'd like to keep it fun for both of us. Seriously LOVE this horse!
To top my day off, I got a new show bridle. My friend, who rides western, told me she had a dressage bridle for sale for $75. I figured if it was decent for the price, another schooling bridle would be great. It's a Prestige! Brand spanking new!!!
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| It came with wrapped leather, rubber grip reins too! |
I asked her if she knew that it was worth WAY WAY more than that and she said that she knew, someone had told her what it was worth. I was all like "Are you sure that's all you want for it?" She said that it was just sitting in her trailer and she'd rather someone have it to use. I seriously wanted to hug her! A new show bridle was definitely in need, but after buying the new helmet and my Oglivy half pad, I wasn't going to be able to afford one for a while. I still feel like I should give her more money for it though.
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| I love the wrapped leather! The quality and detail are awesome! |
Ty looked at it and said "I could use that as a race bridle!" I told him no, that it had a crank. Unfortunately, I had forgotten that it wasn't a single crown piece and that the crank could easily be replaced with a regular noseband. Of course, he had spotted that fact immediately. Let me think about it...yeah, NO!!!!
