I spent a lot of time at a trot in diagonals and going over a series of jump poles on the ground, into figure eights then going down a straight trying to remain in a raised position for the length of the straight at the trot, then back over the jump poles again. This demonstrated to me that I have got good muscle strength but I need to work on my core strength and balance. It was too difficult for me to keep the raised position for the length of the straight. I also felt my pelvis was in a good position for the first time and it made a heap of difference to my ride.
The second half of the lesson was spent working on transitions between walk, trot, canter, trot, walk. Dick is funny as he goes from a canter to almost a dead stop but not every time so you have to be paying a lot of attention! Once I had to grab his massive neck to stop me going over his head! Talk about needing balance!
It's interesting to see not only the physical strength but the mental strength required to get all parts of your body operating independently whilst keeping your balance and instructing the horse. Today the hard work paid off but it was mentally tiring. It gives me a new appreciation for dressage riders who make it look so effortless. I can now see why non-riders see good horse riders and think riding is just about learning to sit there while the horse moves underneath you. What people don't realise is just how much is going on all at once. The fact that with English riders you cant even see them giving direction to their horses goes to show the extent of the communication that is going on between the horse and the rider. What it takes to get to that level is serious commitment, discipline and countless hours of work.
I came home and did ground work with Teddy and reviewing all the partnership levels and he's great at all of it. The only thing I noticed was he seemed a bit stand offish today. Maybe he's just having one of those days or he's had enough of me cheating on him with another horse LOL! He is impressive to me still and I love him dearly. I've decided, after some advise from Lisa that on the days I'm not riding him I will start on the harmony levels. I've also got a few strategies up my sleep for Teddy in the saddle. I have high hopes for my Teddy Bear still.
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