dancinghorse | Lesson Neep

Lesson day today. I was in rather interesting condition: fibro feet all week so the soles are like Ow, and yesterday had a mishap while feeding horse lunches--putting out hay, turned just as keed drove Ephiny into me. Our heads met with a hard clonk. She kept on going. I jumped up and down and screamed for a while. My pupils have consistently been the same size and I never passed out, so concussion is unlikely, but I spent the afternoon horizontal with a splitting headache and my hearing not doing very well (much tinnitus). This morning the hearing was still iffy and the sinuses were clogged, adding to the fun--and I kept wanting to fall asleep.

Teacher being Teacher, this was an Opportunity rather than a disaster. So I saddled up keed for her and finished barn chores while watching him dance. He is getting so strong and light, and so elegant. He looks amazing.

Capria was designated lesson pony, having not had a lesson in a while (and she let me know she was not pleased about that). She had been stiff in her longe yesterday, but she came out in good shape this morning. And Teacher brought out the longeline and let us know that today was a Seat Lesson Day.

Was it ever. When we were done, we realized with considerable shock that we had been doing this for a solid hour. Felt like a few minutes. Which is amazing considering we were just, like, walking. And trotting. And walking some more.

Started off with basic body-sculpting: Get on horse, get as far into front of saddle as possible without rude-pommel effect, put knees up in front of saddle flaps, feel back go flat while keeping some natural arch, have Teacher rotate each thigh back almost 90 degrees with lower leg to match, then bring forward into riding position without altering back position. Heels out. Outer muscles of thighs in gear, inner muscles open. Lower leg relaxed, toe up (from front of shin, not calf muscle).

Now visualize round shape from navel to pelvis--Teacher said jar, I liked softball better (that being the size and overall concept). Cannot spread out sideways. Must stay in place. In addition, feel as if someone is lifting you by the ribcage (or "sit tall" if that concept works better). Center of body stable but not stiff.

I tend to lock rather than engage, and stiffen when I should be soft; then when I try to go soft, I get too loose and get in the horse's way. I was holding a Lot of tension in the hips, and either slumping or going rigid in the trunk. Capria responded by being a slug. A sarcastic one, no less.

ETA: Seatbones should feel as if you're sitting on the floor and "walking" them forward (but the horse is doing the walking). Movement is an ellipse with emphasis on up phase. Up, around, forward. Feel as if they're wheels. Don't make them do this. The horse moves them, not you.

So we kept on visualizing that softball until I stopped locking the hips and started (by leaning back to just the right angle) feeling the hindlegs sliding under me, keeping upper body up and still but not stiff. From halt, think walk (expanding the softball forward) until she walks. Same deal with trot. Make sure to keep that upper body quiet without tension. Grow tall. If she drops her back (and she will, that's her favorite evasion) and tries to take off, lower center of gravity into hers (feels like squishing the pelvic floor out flat) and stay with her no matter how inconsistent she is. When she gets her balance, her back will come up and her head and neck will come down and she will go looking for the bit.

After a while I took up contact to give her what she was asking, and did more of same. Body position, hand position, center of gravity. Look, Ma, no legs! All the transitions done through that round ball in the abdominals. Feel the spine, follow it if it wiggles, follow it down if it drops. Once it's where it belongs, open up the front and ask the withers to lift--and there's collection. All from a softball-sized portion of my anatomy.

No wonder she wants me to post the trot all the time. It lets her avoid raising her back by keeping me up off it every other stride. If I'm sitting the trot and am in her back, she has to actually use herself.

She loses her balance constantly, which is why she gets so rushy and freaky. For a horse built like a coffee table, she's remarkably wobbly--in large part because her right hind tends to be weak. She's fine with it as long as I make sure she uses it, but she never totally trusts it and will let it drop off the map if she can. Which is why dressage lessons are so good for her. They make her move evenly and make sure she stays sound.

After an hour of that we were both ready to pack it in--and I had Camilla slamming on the gate demanding her lesson. She took her bit like a pro--she does love that mullenmouth--and then spent a good 45 minutes doing in-hand work with Teacher. First flexions to loosen her jaw and neck--she is a world-champion jaw-locker and she was unusually persistent today. I had to be a bit guard on the side Teacher wasn't on--fingers between ring and mouth to make sure it didn't press on the side while Teacher asked for softening on the other side. Over and over until she went into brainlock and we had to tap her forehead to get her back. Then she relaxed her jaw and neck and her eye went soft and she allowed as how that felt pretty good. Teacher then took her around and around in hand, riding her "on the bit" while striding along at her shoulder, focusing her so she exactly mirrored the length or speed of Teacher's stride, and asking for shoulder-in and not shoulder-slamming-into-Teacher. Teacher realized her own shoulder was tight and she wasn't using her abs (same as I was using when riding); once she relaxed her shoulders and put her torso into riding position with abs engaged, Camilla moved away from her and started relaxing into the exercise. At the end she had soft, floopy ears and a quiet expression, and we agreed it would not be fair to add ridden work to that.

We were very pleased. She's never had that much pressure put on her, and she didn't blow up or lose control. She's a little outraged tonight, just a little pushy, but for her she's quite soft and she's thinking hard. It's good.

I wish I could send her to Teacher for a couple of months, but that budget is reserved for the Dallas clinic. Ah well. We'll do this weekly, I'll learn to do it, too, and we'll go on the way I've gone on with the others.

In other news, Pooka's feet continue to grow nicely. And I've been writing many pages. None today (yet); I crashed all afternoon. But even I need a day off once in a while.