# Lesson Journal



## back again (Mar 29, 2011)

I had another lesson today, it was at the same place (place A), again it was a good lesson and I was happy with how it went.

We were mainly working on the adjustability of the horses stride, in walk, trot and canter. At the beginning of the lesson I did not have enough forward movement and the horse kept falling behind my leg (because he is normally such a big mover this really threw me off balance), then we went through a stage where we had a LOT of forward... but no shortening of the stride.

So in the trot we worked on shortening the stride on the short stride and then lengthening on the long side. The difference was amazing!!! It also really helped me feel the connection between by body, legs, reins and the horse! After that we tried the same thing in canter. The first time was a bit of a disaster, we started on a 20m circle and then the aim was to spiral in with the stride getting shorter, but impuslion remaining, instead what happened was I couldnt hold him and as we came in on the circle the horse lost balance and we went faster and faster, until he started falling out through his rear. After this we went over how to ask for the shortening properly and tried again.

It was a lot better, instead of the spiralling exercise we stayed on a 20m circle but for one half stayed in a shorter stride, and the next half lengthened, before bringing him back. The difference between the two was really obvious and it started really making sense how to get him to sit back on his haunches!!

From here we moved into keeping him in the shorter canter for longer, and then did canter loops on both reins. The lesson was hard work but at the end I felt like I had a better connection and far more control over how the horse was working.

So the take home messages for this ride were:
(1) relax the knee
(2) without forward movement you cant really achieve anything
(3) be aware and in control of how the horse is moving (not just where he is going, but how he goes there) - to do this use seat, leg and rein aids

My next lesson is on Saturday morning and is at a different place (place B), I am looking forward to seeing how I can translate this new feel onto a different horse who works completely differently.


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## back again (Mar 29, 2011)

So, I've already missed a couple of lessons. Just a review


Lesson 1 (last thursday)

Last week because of the weather the horse I ride in my lessons hadnt been ridden in a couple of days and didnt really want to work. We spent the first 20min or so really establishing a reaction to what I was asking. It started off as a more average lesson where I didnt feel connected to the horse, but turned into a really good one. My leg position changed, so that it was more like my knee was pointing down more, allowing my upper thigh to relax more and my hips to move with the horse more.

Once I had this, it was a lot easier to ask the horse to move forward (because he was freer to move beneath me). The when I started thinking about closing my hand and having the connection more in my elbows we got some really good connected trot work. Had some great mediums with the horse overtracking and well connected 

Then in the canter I did more work on adjusting the length of the stride. It was the first time that I really started to understand that the horse coming through doesn't happen because of one particular aid and isn't really the goal. The goal is riding correctly and the connection and horses way of moving is evidence that you are making progress towards that goal.



Lesson 2 (this past tuesday)


Then at my last lesson at the different place (B) I got back into doing small jumps (for the last couple of lessons, since I started doing them with another person we haven't been jumping, but doing pole work and working more on adjusting the stride). I have been riding a horse that used to do two star eventing - its been great riding him because all I need to do on him for him to work through is make sure that I am not carrying any tension through my thighs and upper body and my hands stay steady). But he has a tendency to slow down coming up to the jump, rock back, and then jump - its really hard to keep a fluid, steady pace. I'm getting better at it and my instructor has noticed and has asked me if I want to try riding a different horse. 

So for my lesson next tuesday I will be riding a different horse, a horse that used to do WC Show Jumping. My instructor said that he has a larger stride and gets a bit strong when jumping (compared to the horse I have been riding). So fingers crossed it all goes well.



Lesson 3 (today)

My lesson today was a bit disorganised but actually went really well. I arrived at the place where I was taking my lesson (Place A), the horse wasn't ready and my instructor had lost track of time. I went out, collected him from his field and tacked him up, after this went to pick his hooves and realised he has thrown a shoe. Then walk him a bit and he has come up slightly lame on that foot. So talk to my instructor and even though we will both be running late, decide that I will untack this horse and put him in a stall so he can wait for the farrier and she will go and get a different lesson horse for me to take my lesson.

I then decided that because we would both be running late to ask if we could do a shorter lunge line lesson. So we worked on the lunge on really relaxing my leg (hip to knee) and moving with the horse. Then did some stirrupless work in both trot and canter - made a big break through with sitting trot and felt so good by the end of the lunge line part. My instructor then took me off the lunge and work on sitting trot by myself. It felt so much better than any past sitting trot work I had done before, my alignment was good and it was actually comfortable to sit the trot. And because I was really following with my hips and focusing on keeping my hands closed and steady, the horse (that I had never ridden before) came round and was really connected and through. I went from only being able to sit for a couple of strides to sitting comfortably. Then did some work through the canter - and I kept the connection through the transitions too!!!

Not only did I feel like it was a great break through lesson - but it appears that my instructor did too. She said that I had graduated from her lesson horses and could ride the "really good" ones .

But because it was a different horse to what I normally ride (and one with less movement in the strides) I asked if I could do my next lesson on my normal horse and then if I kept the feeling that I had this lesson I could move on to a different horse. Im just worried about being a horse with HUGE movement and feeling like I did when I first started riding this current horse. I understand that to progress you need to challenge yourself but feel like as soon as I can comfortably manage myself and keeping the horse connected we are moving on to something way more challenging. 

I am sure that it is just nerves and it will go well - I trust my instructor and that she wont over-face me. I am just a bit of a perfectionist and dont like it when I do not know what to expect.


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## back again (Mar 29, 2011)

Just reviving this thread now - after not riding regularly for almost 2 years I've finally decided to get back into it!!! (I did keep doing irregular lessons for a bit though)

I stopped because I was doing Honours at Uni and didn't have time, then I started another degree (combined PhD and Masters) and didn't make it a priority. Then to add to all of that I tore three ligaments in my knee!!! I'm now 12 months post surgery and am allowed to do stuff like horse riding again.

So I've called and booked my first lesson and am super excited!!!! I've pulled my boots out and cleaned and polished them today as well!

Lesson is on tuesday so I'll have an update after then!


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## LittleBayMare (Jun 2, 2014)

Congrats on getting back in the saddle! I've never torn a ligament, but i know how hard it is coming back from injuries. I had a spinal injury in August of 2014 and I shattered my arm 2 weeks ago. Let us know how the lesson goes!


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## back again (Mar 29, 2011)

@LBM - thanks! It certainy can be frustrating coming back from an injury - sometimes it seems like one step forward 2 steps back!

Lesson went well - felt a lot more basic than what I was doing before the break (from reading here) - I was working on getting a connection - felt like it was impossible to get enough impulsion!!!


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

back again said:


> Just reviving this thread now - after not riding regularly for almost 2 years I've finally decided to get back into it!!! (I did keep doing irregular lessons for a bit though)
> 
> I stopped because I was doing Honours at Uni and didn't have time, then I started another degree (combined PhD and Masters) and didn't make it a priority. Then to add to all of that I tore three ligaments in my knee!!! I'm now 12 months post surgery and am allowed to do stuff like horse riding again.
> 
> ...



which university are you attending?


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## back again (Mar 29, 2011)

@tinyliny - I'm at the University of New South Wales in Australia. Been there for all of my uni years (by the end of this degree that will be 8 years!!)

I had my second lesson today - it went better. I was on a different horse who was a bit more forward and found it a lot easier! (it also wasnt 34 degrees!)

We even had a good connection once I figured out that I wasnt holding through the outside rein! The instructor hasnt had the horse for long and said that we even did the best trot-canter-trot transition she'd seen the horse do!!

He had a lot more movement than the horse I was on last week though - when I had him through and moving with impulsion it was back to feeling like I did when I first started riding a horse with more movement last time - like you're holding it together and getting the horse going well - but I feel like I'm all over the place!! Gotta get that core strength back!


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

Nice to hear how engaged you are in the whole lesson thing you are. Good luck!


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## back again (Mar 29, 2011)

Hi Tinyliny - thanks 

I live in the city and don't really have enough time to own a horse - the lessons are the only way that I get my horse time in!!

Just realised I had another lesson last week that I haven't updated on. I was on the same horse as in my previous lesson, but the lesson was a jumping lesson.

Now I'm going to preface this by saying that I dont have a whole lot of experience jumping, and neither does the horse that I'm riding. But the instructor thinks that I ride him well and she can put other riders on the horses that have more experience.

We started off with just a small cross rail, then started going around the arena with two jumps - one on each long-side (arena slightly smaller than standard sized). At the beginning it was fine, with the one jump, or even just the two I found that I had enough time to rebalance the horse and center myself before the next jump. - the horse has quite big movements and needs help to stay off the forehand when we get moving. He also jumps pretty big (even though we were only jumping cross rails he goes wayy higher than needed - and it seems like the more impulsion we have, the higher he jumps!)

So by the time we were doing a small 6 fence course I felt that it was a bit beyond me to focus on rebalancing him, making sure he didnt bulge through his shoulder or lean into the turns, and stay with him over the jumps. I got him in the mouth a couple of times and felt really bad!

Now, we did do the course once to the left, than had to work out how to do it in reverse (on the other rein). We did do it a lot better going to the right (so ended on a good note)- but I felt a bit disheartened. 

I really like riding this horse, he tries so hard, and does have really good gaits when he's going well - but Im starting to think that I just dont have the experience jumping to ride him!


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## back again (Mar 29, 2011)

So - I've had two lessons since my last update.

In the first one (just over a week ago) we did quite a lot of transitions within the gaits, working on some extensions and a little bit of collection in trot and canter. I was on the same horse as previously and as long as I keep him balanced he has some really nice mediums - we didnt get the same collection as previously though. He's been used in some school camps and really didnt soften as much as he previously has. But also, Im not sure that I was consistent enough in my aids - Im not sure that I kept him balanced enough through the extensions and there was one where he broke into canter - Im not sure if I was asking for too much or what happened there. But there was one canter when I really gave him the reins and asked for collection and balance with my seat where he really felt balanced and together. It makes me think that Im relying on my hands to much and need to ride from my seat more in general! Whilst in this lesson there were moments that felt good, in general, we werent as together as we have been and there was a lot more resistance all together!

So thats the first lesson - after it I went away thinking that the previous times Ive ridden him he was a lot softer and there was a lot less resistance. At the beginning I thought that it was probably just that he was being used in more camp type stuff and isnt working properly. But then I realised that for there to be resistance and tension it takes two to tango. And then thought that the best ride we had was the first one. In the first ride I had been told that he was a bit green and the instructor really wasnt sure what he knew. Because of that I really made sure to release every time he softened even a little. Then the first ride went so well that I expected more. So I decided that if that was what the big difference was - I would focus in my next ride on saying 'thank you' and releasing everytime he softened even a little bit.

So I just had my most recent ride - and kept this in mind. The trot work that we did was a lot more consistent - and he softened in a way that he hadnt before. When he was getting tense and a bit tighter we circled and then sometimes spiraled in and out in a leg yeild - but giving the release made such a big difference!

So that was in the trot work - but we also did a fair amount of work on transitions between gaits. First from walk-halt-walk, then from canter-walk-canter. He isnt that responsive in downwards transitions. I try really hard to use my seat to collect and then ask for the transition - but even in walk-halt transitions he pulls and tries to tank through. Then when we get a nice square halt - he fidgets and tries to walk on. The instructor has said that this is something that he does with everyone. But we really tried to focus on this in my recent lesson. By the time that we moved on from walk-halt-walk transitions he was stopping where I planned and standing for 5 seconds before I asked for him to walk on. Then in the walk canter transtions I focused on having enough impulsion and giving the aid at the right time (inside hind on the ground). We had some great upwards transitions - but think I overdid the impulsion because he got a bit forwards during the lesson. It was difficult to ask for the downwards transition and when I got a walk I really had to focus on relaxing through my seat and staying in walk with my movements or he would start to jog. So I think this made me a bit heavier with my hands - definately with my outside rein. So there were times where he was really trying to soften and I didnt release as much as I should have. But he was a lot softer and some of the canter work was better than it had been - its just that I think of the release as saying thank you for trying - and I didnt thank him as much as I should have...

After that we did some squares - and did this interesting thing where the instructor asked what aids we were giving through the corners. at the begining I was using inside leg to ask for bend and outside rein to support, with some support from the outside leg because we started on the rein where he falls out. But then we tried experimenting with asking for the turn in different ways - i.e. hind quarters out, starting to ask for a quarter pirouette. We started off doing this in walk. Then changed direction with a turn on the quarters - ours wasnt tight enough but I was cautious of stopping his forward movement.

Then we moved on to doing the squares in canter - and asking for the turn to come from moving the front across and carrying more on the hind. We didnt do it as well in canter - but I could really feel that he was trying. Particularly on the rein that he finds more difficult - it was like the corners were building impulsion and I had to do less to build it. But then he got a bit tired and going through the corners I had to ask for more. It was a really interesting end to the lesson - I could really feel the difference and having realised that I wasnt giving enough in canter had started to do so. But riding the square really suppled him through the corners!

Im not going back next week - instead I have a bunch of private lessons booked with a dressage instructor I used to take lessons from a couple of years back. Im really looking forward to it! Im staying with a family friend (about 2 hours way from home) and taking two half hour private lessons a day (one am and one pm) - ive got 7 lessons booked and have told my regular instructor to keep an eye out for differences when I get back!


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## back again (Mar 29, 2011)

So here's the bummer - it was pouring for the first half of last week so my dressage lessons got cancelled on account of the arena being under water!!!

The good news is that I was able to call my usual instructor and just managed to squeeze into her Friday lesson (and the arena there was all good!)

_________________________________________________________________________________________________​

So here is the update on the lesson - I really thought about giving as a reward and other than that keeping a consistent contact. In my past lesson the instructor commented about be being "too busy" - so I really tried to keep everything still and just follow.

It went alright, there were times where we came together when we were doing trot work but in general, I'm not convinced it was great...

We started off with leg yield, then moved into a bit of shoulder in, and then half pass. When doing the half pass we came down the center line - the started moving into leg yield - to get the sideways movement started. Then when we had a good leg yield, changed the aids to ask for bend in the direction of movement. 

When we were doing this we had some great steps where we were really together and the horse was stepping through. I could really feel the difference & the impulsion! I think the difference between this, and when we were trotting more on straight lines is that I was asking for more & using my aids more. So when I was thinking of following and staying steady, I had stopped riding as much.

This came really clear when we moved onto canter. When I first asked for canter we were on a 20 meter circle - I was supposed to then come off the circle and go down the center line and leg yield back to the wall (so I needed to do half a 10m circle). 

But my bad - I started on the rein that the horse is stiffer on and you really need to hold the outside aids to get a circle at all! - so I couldnt get him onto the smaller circle. I tried spiraling in to get it but was going to come back into trot and try again. When I started preparing for the downwards transition - just asking for a little bit of collection the horse started stepping under again we got a great canter - the instructor told me to take that canter and ask for the smaller circle instead of the transition. I could easily ask for the 10m circle! It just reinforced to me that I need to follow and keep a steady contact - but I shouldn't be afraid of using my aids. Yes, when I asked for him to collect for the downwards transition I used a lot of seat, but I also used the outside rein. 

I guess its all just a balancing act - you need to use the aids when you have a message, but need to be soft. I guess that when I was thinking only about following and keeping a steady contact I stopped riding as much, it was only when I was doing something productive with my aids that I was really connected to the horse - whether what I was asking for was a transition, or lateral movement.


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## back again (Mar 29, 2011)

So - I've had 3 lessons since I last posted - AND have called the dressage instructor to rebook my intensive 4 days of lessons! Im doing them next week and am sooo excited! But now to the lessons.


LESSON 1
So I was on a different horse for this lesson - I was on the same horse that I rode my first lesson back riding again. She is an eventing horse who competes and does quite well with her leasee. So she can do everything and is a really nice mare - but she's lazy, if she thinks you cant get her to do it then she wont. And the instructor says that you really need to earn your contact with her. I really struggled to get her going. Not in a major - wont trot when I say so way - she did everything I asked, just in a way that she didnt have to try to hard. 

On top of that we were jumping (after about 30min flatwork) so I had a short crop instead of the dressage whip (which Im more used to). She also tends to go forward with impulsion when she sees the jump - but then looses the impulsion about 3 strides out. So we spent a while just doing one small jump and then did a course. When we got to the course everything changed. I guess that because I had to do more work and ride every corner and think more I did a lot better. I got her going well and it was at a point where she was offering to work!

LESSON 2

Was a flatwork lesson where we were working more on lateral movements. I was on the same mare as in the previous lesson and I kept the break-through I had the previous week. It was like I was on a completely different horse. Now she wasnt hot or go-ey - but she took what I asked and tried harder. She was going forwards with impulsion and offering contact. She was through and working really well - the lateral movements were helping with that. We started off doing leg yield, then went into shoulder in and then finally a little bit of half pass - but not a lot - I still found half pass more difficult today than previously - I find it easier in canter than trot - I guess the extra impulsion makes it easier. But it was a great lesson - the horse was going well and I didnt have to work too hard to get it either!

LESSON 3 (TODAY)

So, I had another lesson today, we did some flatwork and then a bit of jumping. It was a different level of group though - we had 2 riders who werent as strong, one it was an age thing, the other just didnt have as much experience. So I started off on the same horse as the previous 2 lessons. Then the horse that the young girl was riding got a bit too forward for her so the instructor got us to swap. The difference in horse was MASSIVE - I got off a lazy warmblood x percheron and on a narrow thoroughbred! It felt like there was nothing underneath me! But he has great gaits, nice springy trot and a wonderful canter! At this point we were just about to start jumping - we just went over a jump from trot a couple of times, then went to the other end of the arena to ride a short (8 jumps) course. We all went through it once at trot - it felt OK, the horse wanted to fall in around a right hand corner (which would have meant taking a jump at an angle - but I held him out OK) - but I wasnt particularly with him - I was coming down to early a couple of times. 

Then after that we did the same height at a canter - which was better - I was much more with him and could see the distance better. Then the instructor raised the height of the fences (still not too high 60-70cm course) and a couple of us did it again. I rode a lot better, I was with him over the fences, didnt come back to early and picked everything a lot better. We got all of the simple changes (through trot) nicely and balanced!

I guess it comes back to the same thing - when what Im doing is harder I have to focus more and ride better. I just need to figure out how to do that when I dont feel like I have to. I guess its about learning to ride every stride even when you're just going straight.

After the lesson I was talking to the instructor about what day Im going to ride in the future and she told me that if I wanted she would take me to some jumping clinics when they come up! So thats super exciting!!

Now if anyone is reading this, I have a question - now that Im jumping a bit more Im wondering about body protectors. Do they make a big difference? When do you think its necessary to be wearing one? Do you ride in one? If you do, is it only when you're jumping? or on the flat too?

If I dont get any responses Ill just post another thread - but thought it was worth asking here


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

This journal has been closed due to prolonged lack of participation by the author. Journals that have no active participation by the author for a period of time greater than 18 months will be considered abandoned and will be closed until the author asks for them to be reopened


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

This journal has been closed due to prolonged lack of participation by the author. Journals that have no active participation by the author for a period of time greater than 18 months will be considered abandoned and will be closed until the author asks for them to be reopened


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