Progress!

For Wednesday's lesson, I rode Chester with a new pad I got him, a black Roma sheepskin pad. It worked well; the saddle didn't slip at all and it looks nice with his brown saddle. Meghan lunged him before I got on because he hadn't been ridden since Friday(I rode Ronnie Monday). When he was done bucking and cantering to burn off some of his extra energy, I mounted and began riding him around in the dressage arena, trotting in a figure eight pattern.

Figure eight

  I had to work a lot on keeping Chester on the circle and going all the way to the points, while at the same time turning his head slightly to the inside. It is hard work to use your leg to keep him on the circle and takes a lot of coordination. There were times when I didn't make it all the way to the points, or found myself using a little outside rein to keep Chester on the circle, which in turn brought his head to the outside. I got a little better at it as I continued but it is still something I need to practice.

Cantering. I'm coming out of the saddle a bit.

 On one part of the figure, about midway through the lesson, Chester spooked at something, and Meghan quickly told me to turn him in a tight circle, which I did. I managed to stay on, but I need to work on taking control when I horse I'm riding spooks rather than holding on.

 I continued on the figure eight, continuing to work on turning Chester's head to the inside while using my leg to push him to the points. Next, I trotted around the dressage arena, rode across several diagonals, then made a circle left at C. I pushed Chester into a big trot as I started the circle, then asked for the canter when I reached C. It was great! I'm getting more comfortable cantering and better at sitting deep in the saddle.

This looks much better. I love this picture.

Walking at the end

 After that, I made a fast circle at A, heading right, and cantered the whole circle. I ended the lesson with the dressage test as it is written, with cantering. I had to redo the circle right at A a couple times, because I cantered in a too small circle at first. The next two times he only trotted quickly. When I gave Chester more of a squeeze and loosened the reins more, he cantered nicely. The canter for the left circle at A, however, was good and immediate. Even the downward transition was smooth! I'm getting much better at cantering now.

Runnin' in Circles

 Saturday's lesson brought a lot of learning. When I arrived at the barn, I went to fetch Reno, who was lying on his stomach at the back of his paddock, napping. I had to nudge him to make him get up. Then I brought him to the grooming stall to clean him and tack him up. Like last time, I used the dressage saddle.

 I warmed up by riding Reno around the arena at the walk, doing several walk-halt transitions at places I designated myself, rather than places Meghan told my to halt at. Then, I changed directions and gradually worked up to trotting. As usual, I started by doing corners, then short ends, and then long ends. Once I finished doing that, Meghan introduced something new to me: circles. She described how the typical dressage court consists of three adjacent 20 meter circles, each marked by several letters and lines.

 I practiced the circle with the points at C, H, between S and R, and M at the walk, then did it at the trot several times. Next, I did the S-R, E, L, and B circle at the walk and then the trot. Once I had done those several times, Meghan asked me if I knew how to do a figure eight. I guessed how to do it, and then Meghan had me execute it. After that, I moved on to doing the final circle in the court at the walk and then the trot. I did the figure eight involving it and then learned how to a serpentine. I did that once, at the trot.

 Meghan explained to me the importance of learning circles, telling me it is useful to learn how early on in case I will need to use them with another instructor or when showing.

 After finishing the serpentine, I dropped my stirrups and rode around the dressage half of the arena(As I have said before, the arena is cut in half lengthwise using poles, with one half marked with dressage letters) at the walk. Once I did that, I exited the arena, turning left toward where the trailers are parked when people bring their horses to the ranch. In this area is a steep ditch. Meghan had me practice riding hills on that ditch before riding around the barn and the adjacent pasture to to cool down like I usually do. This time, I rode in the opposite way I usually do.

 Overall, it was an awesome lesson with a lot of learning. I really enjoyed myself and can't wait to find out what I'll learn next time.