Avandarre in Dressage

I found an interesting article that kind of addresses some of the problems I've been having lately. Maybe it'll be helpful to some of you also. Riders Learn to Envision What They Want and Make it Happen; Robert Dover I liked the rubber band exercise he describes. I'm going to have to try that with Ava this weekend. On the second page, Robert Dover say's, "Be certain of what it is that you're asking for, clear with your aids, and envision the expected result in your mind. See the movie of your most grand vision of yourself—if you envision less than that, that's all you'll get," The article caught my eye because my trainer pointed out (several times) how I was blocking Ava during the walk/canter depart. I was expecting her to not respond. This is one of those instances where blind faith in your trainer is required in order to get past a training obstacle (my obstacle, not Ava's). Bern said Ava will canter off a light seat aid, then by ...

OMG! Ava gave me the BEST canter depart today. I was so thrilled that I stopped her after a few strides, patted her up, and we called it quits for the day. xD Let me back up a bit though... Last Thursday, Bern taught me how to do the leg yield along the rail to get Ava straighter between the reins/aids. |\ Then Friday, my trainer let me ride one of the 3rd level horse's (this one is for sale by the way, and he's a doll). Bern gave me instruction on how to ride the horse correctly so I could feel how it was supposed to feel. At one point Bern tells me to ask for a canter depart from the walk. This horse makes these look smooth in his sleep. He's an old hand at this. So I ask for it, completely did not expect to get it, and ended up bopping him in the mouth the first time. That was quite an eye opener to me. It was shocking how much I was inhibiting the canter in all kinds of bad ways just by mentally being prepared for the wrong answer. When I got the right answer, I...