Candy

Session Summary

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This was our first one to one session together, and so it was a discovery session of what is happening within the partnership.

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We worked through the basics to see where there may be some weak spots and what maybe happening when they occur.

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Homework from the session

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Working on smaller more detailed patterns that require more engagement, once we Brough the circles down he lifted up through his thoracic sling and naturally started to become more balanced, this reduced the feeling of needing to lift him up with your hands and created a much lighter feeling. So when you are working try to avoid big long sweeping movements and keep them more detailed and tighter, this work with then create that need to for him to step under more and you should feel this through both your contact and his back.

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Be really aware of how you balance out yourself especially on the right rein where theres a tendency to sit into the right side and create a lean from both of you.

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Riding things like serpentines and smaller figures of eight will really help you feel this.

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The hard is something you both struggle with because he gets into his shoulder and then ploughs forwards and you loose your centre when he does this, so for you thinking about engaging the centre of the body and not allowing the ribcage to pop when you ask for your downwards transition. And to help him stay up in front, thinking about where and when you ride your transitions, try not to do them off a straight or when you are not riding a movement that is naturally creating the hind leg engagement, riding your transitions coming out of a couple of strides of leg yield or on a 10m circle will help him stay more up and balanced. Once he re-learns this body pattern you can then take these more into the open sides, but if you feel him heavy again then bring ham back onto an exercise that increases his engagement.

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All of this can be done in both walk and trot.

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Exercises for you

Theres still a tendency to sit into your right side, the balance board work will really help this so to focus on that and finding rotation whilst balanced, and playing more with he different sessions.