2 Lessons in 1 Night = Exhausting!

Well, Tuesday night was more than a little nerve wracking for me. I got to the barn a little before five and got ready for my lesson on Henry. Of course, after so many years of practice it only takes about ten minutes to tack up, so I had some time to kill before my lesson started. I had thought ahead and brought a Kyra Kyrklund book with me to see if it offered any insights on that baffling half-pass that I knew I would be working on in my lesson, but also to see if there was a simple concept I could use to focus the lesson I would be teaching at 6:30. Suffice it to say that my nerves, combined with the vague tone of the book (I loved reading it the first few times but it does have a sort of "you had to be there" feeling) and I ended up blanking out on all the words. Oh well.

I did get a chance to talk to some of the girls who work and ride at the barn who have taught these college lessons before. They suggested some horses to use and some tips, and regaled me with stories about good looking college men (sorry, already taken!) and students who are studying abroad here (most are from Asian countries, for some reason). These stories were too funny because looking back to Monday night, there are four guy names on my list (one girl asked if they had "hot names"... um... WHAT?) and on Friday, all the names in my lesson are distinctly Asian... hopefully there won't be too much of a culture/ language barrier. I'm worried though, it's tough enough to try to explain all the parts of a bridle and a horse's anatomy to someone who is a native English speaker!

I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Getting back to my lessons, though...

I warmed up with a nice easy walk while I waited for my trainer to finish the lesson before mine. It's so awesome to be able to walk around on the buckle and not worry that my horse will do something spooky or dumb. We started with some leg-yields, and quickly moved into shoulder-in and haunches-in, and from there tried a couple of half-passes. Going to the left, he gave me a really good effort and so we gave him a walk break. After that we tried to get some good ones to the right, but we are finding he has a hard time bending well to the right. It's partially me as well, as I tend to let him work his own way through the corners and don't support his shoulders as much as I should through the bend. That will change!

We went back to the leg-yield to the right to try to work some more on bending, but it will be a long road. This is something that will start to show itself more and more, and so I will need to work on getting him to bend all the way through to the right. Another disconcerting quirk that is showing itself is that when I ask for something challenging, as he is thinking Henry tends to click his teeth together. He's not gnashing them or fighting the contact, just playing with the jaw and click-click-clicking through the movement. It is a sign of tension but I have been assured that it will go away when he becomes more comfortable with what is being asked of him. I purposely keep his noseband one hole looser than most would, because after reading horror stories on COTH and sustainabledressage.com, I want to make sure I am doing what I can to understand the biomechanics of my horse and make him more comfortable. I'm also going to put in a call to the vet to have her come check his teeth and see if there are any shots that need updating.

Anyway, after another break we did some counter-canter-walk-canter transitions. Let me tell you, his canters feel awesome, but it's also tough because I need to be there to keep his shoulders up if he starts to tip in (especially to the right), half-halt before he can flatten out, and push him into the bend, all while staying upright. Someday his balance will be such that I can just sit back and enjoy the gait, but for now I am more than willing to lend a helping hand (and leg, and seat, and upper body...). We finished with some lengthenings at the trot, emphasizing a prompt transition back down to the more collected (not actually collected, more like working) trot, and then a stretchy circle, focusing on encouraging him to stretch down and OUT, not down and towards his chest. He's getting there :)

So homework for this week is:

• keep plugging away at getting precise control of his shoulders, haunches, and sideways to improve each of the elements of half-pass
  
• keep working on getting a deep, through bend to the right
• leg-yields on center line and from the track to center line so that he's not leaning on the wall as a crutch or anticipating the movement
• prompt transitions within the trot to lengthening and back down

The tough part is, as my trainer says, "we're going to be here for a while". Henry is such a quick learner and a hard worker, that it sort of feels strange when he struggles with something. I gave him last night off (and spent almost three hours at the gym between cardio, weight training, and a yoga class!) and will work sparingly but diligently on our homework. I really wish the weather was better so that I could give him a trail ride mental break. He's always in work mode, which might be how he likes it, but I do get nervous that he'll resent all the concentrated effort on these tough new moves!

Hmm... think I'll save my tale of the college lesson for the next post. This one's long enough ;)