Best Riding Ever!

 Yesterday, Laura said that I rode the best that she has ever seen me ride! I was light, soft, and in balance, which caused Lucky to also be balanced and soft. Everything seemed so effortless; it felt incredible. It's rides like these, when everything comes together, that makes all the hard work worth it. Granted, there were a few sticky spots when I became crooked and out of balance, consequently causing Lucky to become unbalanced, but for the most part things went brilliantly. Everything I've been learning just came together and clicked, and I was riding better than I've ever had.

 Lucky was so responsive to my aids, that I tried to find out how light I could make my aids, as if hiding them from any observer. The answer? I could be lighter and softer than I ever thought I could. It didn't take much to get Lucky to become round and responsive to my aids. I rode several serpentines during the lesson, softly changing bend as the direction of each circle on the serpentine changed.

Here I am about to change bend, turning to make a right circle at A on the serpentine.

 I even rode the serpentine in my two-point position, first riding just part of it in the two-point and the rest in rising trot, and then riding any entire serpentine, all in two-point. Since my hands were on Lucky's neck to prevent me from leaning on her mouth, I tried turning her using just my body legs. It worked! All I had to do was look in the direction I should go, turning my body slightly, and Lucky listened. When I successful turned her without hands, I asked her for a the some flexion as well. It was an amazing feeling when both Lucky and I were balanced, and I could feel her back swinging beneath me.

Two-point on the serpentine

Her canter, too was lovely and balanced. There were a few times after the downward transitions from canter when we became a bit disorganized and unbalanced, but I worked through those few sticky spots, reestablishing the forward rhythm returning to the soft, balanced place again. 

 Finally, to end incredible ride, I rode Lucky in the free walk across several diagonals and on loops(HXK and FXM). I let the reins slip all the way to the buckle and rested my hands on her withers so that I would use only my body and legs to turn. I prepared ahead of time, just before the corner where the loop began, looping across the arena without relying on my hands.

 It is the best, most amazing feeling in the world when everything came together and I was riding in harmony with Lucky, and I am so happy that it went so well. I've come a long in the one and a half years since I started riding.

Jumping Position Lessons!

 For my past two rides on Lucky, I rode in a jumping saddle, and will continue to do so for the next few months. This can help me develop a better balance because jumping saddles are harder to balance in than dressage saddles, the latter of which are meant to carry a rider in an upright position and good balance.

Nice picture from Saturday. Lucky is actually
coming round(which I hadn't tried to do),
and the fog on the hills adds a pretty touch.

 Friday, before riding, Laura and I dragged the two arenas and the round pen. We first had to partly deconstruct the dressage arena and remove some panels on the round pen and the other arena. Then we hooked the truck to the arena drag, which looked something like a giant rake. We circled the inside of the arenas until the footing was soft and nicely drug. Then I got out BB for Laura to ride. While she rode, I took out Lucky and began lungeing her. She has been getting much more responsive to my slightest aids each time I have worked her. Her trot was really big and nice.

 Most of my ride, I focused on my two-point position. I rose out of the saddle and leaned forward, pressing my hands into her neck. Lucky had a jump strap on, so I held onto that for balance. It took a while to find my balance, and I wasn't able to hold it for two long–sometimes my legs would slip back or I just wouldn't be in balance. However, when I put my legs forward and underneath me, sank my weight into my heels, and opened my chest, coming into balance, I could really feel the difference. I could feel Lucky's back swing freely underneath her. It was a great feeling. I kept on transitioning between posting trot and two-point throughout the lesson.

What went well:

Working on two-point

• Lucky was responding more to my aids at a forward pace. I think this is because of the lungeing work I have been doing, which caused her to gain respect for me and caused me to grow more confident in what I was asking.

I have good elbows here!

Saturday, I rode Lucky again. This time she was also intone and listening to me. I was in two-point for a lot of the lesson and was in pretty good balance for some of the ride. Again, I could really feel these moments because Lucky's back would swing and her stride would become more free. I did an exercise much like I had done in one of my first rides on Lucky. There was a pole in the center of the arena, and cones parallel to it. This time there were two cones on each side so that I would make a larger circle. I would circle the cones on one side, head across the pole at an angle, then circle the other cones, continuing the figure eight. While circling the cones I rode in a posting trot. Then I would point Lucky toward the center of the pole, rise into my two point, and continue the exercise. This exercise will help with making straight lines toward a jump when I begin jumping. I had difficultly riding Lucky over the center of the pole–I drifted to one side. I was able to get her closer to the center when weighted the other stirrup to get her to go the other way.

 I also cantered Lucky for the first time! I had trouble getting her to canter at first, and I was all over the place and not on the rail, but Lucky had a really nice canter. She doesn't take off or jump into canter. For the most part, though, I will be working on getting a balanced two-point these next few months, which will come with time as I continue to build the correct muscles and strength.

What went well Saturday:

• Better balance at two-point
• More in tune with Lucky
• I kept her straight most of the time.

Riding on a Loose Rein

 First of all, I'd like to thank everyone for the kind comments on my previous post.

For Friday's lesson, I worked Chester on a loose rein because he has been a bit irritated lately when I take more contact. This may sound contradictory, but he is much more calm and controllable when`the reins are looser. Of course this means I need to use my body and voice as well to maintain his tempo and half-halt him. It's not always easy to keep the reins loose like that and I often found myself tightening them to slow Chester down, which in turn made him faster since too much of contact sometimes makes him a bit claustrophobic.

Riding one handed.

  I rode around the arena, across several diagonals, and then made several serpentines, all on a loose rein. While doing so, I talked to Chester and tried to use my body to balance and voice slow him down a bit when necessary.

Two-point

 Then I made a circle right at A to begin the canter, starting with half the circle as I had done last time. His canter was surprisingly balanced and controlled when I started. After a few trot circles in between, I once again cantered half the circle, then an entire circle.

 Afterward, I changed directions and did the same thing in the other way. Like last time, there were a few times when he picked up the wrong lead or avoided the circle, but I was able to get a few good ones.

 Since I would be doing Pony Club stadium jumping the next day, I also practiced two-point in the canter, starting to the right. It takes a lot of balance to be able to hold your position. I rode quite a few circles, at one point lifting my inside hand in the air. The purpose of this was to learn to steer more with my body than only my hands, something that still needs work. I wasn't able to keep a good circle when I did this, but was still able to turn. I next did the same thing with my outside hand up. Chester went to the outside a bit a few times, showing the importance of using my weight to turn. After getting one good circle where I used my weight in addition to hands to turn, my lesson ended.