Dressage Clinic for the Non-DQ

I even re-dressaged his mane

I've been puzzling over and over how to write a non-boring dressage clinic wrap up. Let's face it: if I'm like OMG DRESSAGE MINUTIAE YOU GUYS, like two people read it. Austen and JenJ, I'm looking at you.

So instead of walking you step by step through the best dressage ride of my life so far (Saturday) and possibly the hardest (Sunday and I had to get off because walk was too much for me), I wanted to talk a little about why I love my barn.

this is less tipped than some

Because I'm a lumpy adult ammy on a green OTTB. I'm crooked, I hunch my shoulders and tip forward without evening being aware of it, and I'm never going to be a big money client. Courage is a thoroughbred, older, and quite happy to go around inverted.

i'm impressed with him

And not one time did anyone even think that I needed a fancier horse, a pricier saddle, or a date with a personal trainer. Instead, the clinician just focused on us and where we are right now. She corrected us in the moment, but also talked about the theory of training and how to keep teaching Courage to improve both of us in between lessons.

even with me tipping, i like this picture

Last time I rode with her, we did really, really basic exercises (right rein means go right) and sometimes floundered our way through them. This time, Courage stepped it up and we were working on getting the same response to quieter aids. She explained it like rungs on a laddar--we start with the first one and go up. BUT if at any point the horse doesn't understand, then you go back down as many rungs as you need to so that can understand. Hopefully that's just one step back, but it can mean all the way back to the ground.

ASS

And like I said, Saturday was brilliant. Courage was light and responsive and forward and a downright pleasure to ride. His walk and trot was the best it's ever been. I sort of thought the wheels fell off at the canter, but the pictures contradict me.

Sunday we addressed my crookedness head on and while I finally did get straighter, I couldn't both think and ride, so I ended up hopping off and letting my trainer ride to help straighten Courage out while I just watched and processed. I did get back on and recreate some of it (and Courage was really good the whole time), so that was very helpful. Also helpful: knowing that he is crooked for people other than me.

proof of leg yield

The things we worked on are so incredibly simple and yet enormously difficult. They aren't sexy and glamorous (though we did our first supervised leg yield and got a "GOOD JOB"), but I can definitely feel the difference in Coruage's way of going. I have no illusions of grandeur for us in dressage, but I love that pursuing it is actively making us a better team.

PS many thanks to Alyssa for making the best of a dark indoor and taking dressage pictures for us anyways.