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Monday, February 23, 2015

Look Who Had a Lesson!!

look at my horse in his dressage stuff in FEBRUARY 
I won't write another progression post

I won't write another progression post

I won't write another progression post

I feel I should get a gold star. There will be another progression post eventually, but I won't make you look at them every single time I get new pictures.

Anyways. Courage and I had our 4th dressage lesson late last week and Alyssa came out to take pictures. Hooray!!




JANUARY
The thing I love about lessons with C is that I never feel like Courage and I are being pressured and yet after every single lesson, we've made huge strides. It's not exciting to watch or high energy or intense, but Courage and I get little bits of information in manageable chunks.

Since our last lesson, Courage has been more and more willing to work into the contact and stretch down at every opportunity. He's getting stronger and more flexible on the right side, which makes it less like riding two different horses when we change direction.




DECEMBER
We introduced some lateral work at the walk--just enough to give him an idea, and releasing immediately after 3-4 correct steps so he thought it was fun and easy.

We had some of our best trot work yet.

There were some lovely moments in left canter, some nice moments in right canter.

Ok fine, I made it a progression post.

YOU CAN KEEP YOUR GOLD STAR. I'M KEEPING THE TROTTING PICTURES.

mmmm stretchy trot his hard direction
Here's the thing though--there isn't a ton of visible improvement between January and February (imho ymmv). What makes me excited is what was a really fantastic moment in January is becoming the new normal in February.

Now Courage can do awesome things like this.








showing off that hock action



And this.
















look who can soften his body in the canter!
And even this:

So we're doing a lot. We're improving a lot. I'm really thrilled with how my little bay horse is progressing.

I'm not super thrilled with my position, but eh, could be worse I guess.










you'll know I've arrived when I post a canter right picture
I'm hoping to get Courage going back over fences again this week. I'm excited to see how he'll be with his new understanding of using his body. We're obviously keeping up the dressage lessons and I'm not ruling out any dressage shows. ;-)

I dunno, guys. When I'm dressaging, I have so much fun with dressage and when I'm jumping I have just as much fun. Problems of having a fantastic little horse, I guess.

25 comments:

  1. You won't hear me complaining about Courage progression posts! :) Keep it up! I love how obvious it is that he's figuring this thing out, and you know I LOVE the idea of dressage shows!

    Now, can we talk about how you're wearing short sleeves and how I haven't seen my lower arms for months? What is this madness?

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    1. same here - would love to ride in short sleeves -.-

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  2. You had a lesson. I had a foot of snow and ice. Sigh... I'm glad someone is making progress :)

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  3. Loving all the pretty pictures of you and C-rage, you guys look AMAZING :)

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  4. You guys look amazing!! I can't believe how far he's come in such a short time. More progression posts!!

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  5. Yay dressage! The little DQ inside of me gets so excited to hear others having fun dressaging!

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  6. Looks like a lot of fun! I'm jealous!

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  7. LOVE THE PICS! Keep em coming, I don't mind the progression posts. You guys have come so far so quickly. I can't wait until I can, you know, ride... jealous of your weather.

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  8. Maybe you don't see a huge difference in the pictures, but I do! Courage is really learning to not only stretch, but soften and accept contact. So many different frames and options! YAY!!

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  9. Your horse looks awesome and I am super jealous! Hopefully Boca and I can get there some day!

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  10. That last part is exactly why I event.

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  11. I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE AIMEE AND PAPA KICKING ALL THE ASS AT THE DRESSAGE SHOWS.

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  12. So awesome! Also awesome: perfect Vs on all your polos, and is that a little bit of foam I see on Courage's lips?!

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  13. I think your position looks pretty solid. Then again I'm a hunter princess and we're known for our terrible riding ;)

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  14. I like the progression posts :)

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  15. Wow! He's really rockin' the Awesome Sauce! He looks really, really good and Yay for the progression post. So what if you didn't get the gold star? You guys have come a long way. That alone feels amazing!

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  16. Papa is da best at all things. He is a winner

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  17. "A really fantastic moment in January is becoming the new normal in February" - I love this phrase- very succinctly captures the whole essence of slow and steady work. Keep it up!! :)

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  18. WOW great photos! Sounds like a fabulous lesson

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  19. Ya'll look fabulous - moar progression posts!!!!!
    There is no such things as too many ♡♡♡♡

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