I rode in the morning today to beat to heat and did a lot more cantering. Jessica, Chester's owner, was there and decided to watch my lesson. I started by riding several trot serpentines around the dressage arena and focusing on making him straight and turning his head toward the inside.
Next, I trotted down the long side and rode across the diagonal of the arena, changing my diagonal at X. Chester was being really good and responsive today. After trotting around for a bit, I was ready to do some cantering. I worked on the lungeline first, heading to right. Before cantering, I worked on transitioning from a slower trot to a bigger, faster trot, then back again. After a few times, I asked for the canter, riding an entire circle.
After that, I trotted around the arena, then went through my dressage test. This time I would ask for a faster trot again or a canter stride if I was ready. For the first 20 meter circle at A, the one heading right, I didn't get Chester to canter, but I got a few strides to the left, which is supposed to be his harder canter to ride.
At the end of the test I halted and saluted at G, patted Chester, and let him walk for the bit. Then I made a 20 meter circle heading left at A. I rode a faster trot on the part that you canter during the test and a slower part on the other half. I worked up to ending the lesson by cantering half of the circle. I didn't even hold onto the saddle or the mane when I cantered off the lungeline. Cantering is now my favorite gait. I'll likely be doing more of it in future rides.
I won't be riding next week because I'll be at summer camp so I won't post any blog updates. Happy Fourth of July everyone!
Yay for cantering! :D
ReplyDeletei really like how thorough your lesson was! the finer movements like serpentines can be tricky compared to just cantering around and around.
ReplyDeleteI just did trot serpentines but I'm sure canter ones are a bit tricky.
DeleteGood job! It'll get a little easier every time and eventually become no big deal at all. Keep up the good work :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! I will.
DeleteGreat job!
ReplyDelete