Avandarre in Dressage

The weather outside was still bitter cold and snowy a few weeks ago, and had no end in site. I needed to have a solid counter canter on Ava before the middle of April and we were nowhere close to "getting" it. In jogs the Western Rider. WR: "What's your horse's deal?" Me: "She's frustrated". WR: "Why's she keep taking the wrong lead?" Me: ... "I, uhm, I want her to." WR: looks at me, then spurs horse to trot faster. Why is it that dressage is the only (horse) sport where the "wrong lead" can be the right one? And I'll tell you a secret, okay? I've always felt like counter canter was borderline OCD on the 'controlling your horse' spectrum. I mean, seriously, my horse will flip leads just to have that inside leg leading, and my response is to say, " Ha Ha, screw you pony! Do it the hard way!" I almost feel evil about it. I understand the long term benefits of it, so we...

Me and my big mouth! A fellow boarder was having life issues and finding it difficult to make time to ride her horse (aka: Ned). The first words out of my mouth? "I'll ride him for you!". <-- with stupid grin plastered on my face. Up until this point, I had heard stories of how Ned walks on his hind two legs all the way to the barn, how he bowled over his owner when she tried to fetch him from the pasture, and that he not only bucks hard when ridden, but tosses in a twist to throw riders off balance. Oh, and he may rear under saddle too. And yet, there I was... tacking up Ned to ride. In my head I'm hearing, over and over again, every nasty habit Ned has. And I'm wondering: how good am I? Can I stay on? Can I do this? Am I being retarded? All this Is going through my head while I'm trying to figure out how to get a saddle on a back I can't reach.  T he first ride went like this...   Me: "Ned, please halt".  Ned: ..... I wonder if I c...

Just some pictures from earlier this month.

When I was a kid I rode dressage for a few years (very intensely). Anyway, starting again as an adult has really opened my eyes to a lot of things I didn't grasp back then. Like the seat aids. I knew it was vital, I got the concept for the most part, but I completely failed with the subtleties of it. I thought the "seat" was the thighs and seat bones. To turn -> thighs and one seat bone; To stop -> thighs; To collect -> thighs and calves and reins; I had thighs of steel. At my last lesson I was struggling with controlling Ava's forward momentum at the canter. I tried bouncing the reins, and it half-heartedly worked, but I had to really bounce to get a response (which I'm not a fan of doing). So I whined to my trainer, who gave me a "you should know this" look, then set about explaining how to influence Ava's momentum with my hips, abs, shoulder's, and calves (I'm sure she's explained this all before, but I frequently forge...

Just curious, but how many of you out there are training Friesian's, or Friesian crosses? This is my first experience with the Friesian breed. I never expected to own a Friesian.  I'd always assumed they were for people who had too much money and time on their hands. The type of people who can afford to buy designer clothes, go to spa's, have two closets full of shoes they've never worn, etc. I'm not that kind of person. In fact, my sister-in-law keeps threatening to put me on that show where they buy you clothes to wear because your tastes in clothes suck so bad that no one wants to be seen in public with you.  This from the lady that claims to like me. Back to Friesian's...Is it wrong of me to feel kinship with the breed because of our mutual furriness? Disregard that. What I wanted to ask is, why are they so difficult to get in, and keep in, shape? What do you do with your Friesian if you take a vacation, or have to take time off from riding for a wh...

It's lesson night! Yay! I love lesson night. I'm not sure Ava is as convinced it's all that fun. She doesn't get away with falling on her inside shoulder, or flinging her head around, or the spooking at the door at the end of the arena. I'm excited! I'll try to get some pic's and post them this weekend.

Well... I have been informed today that dressage is memorizing patterns. I did not know that. hmm. Learn something new every day I guess. Apparently, by memorizing these patterns I will achieve Grand Prix with my mare. Who knew it was this easy?! Crap... I've been doing this all wrong for so long now.  All this time wasted with straightness and engagement.  I should've just memorized the Grand Prix test.... I could've been showing at the Olympics already. Why didn't people tell me this sooner!!! Robert Dover ... memorizing test now....... Enter A collected canter. Halt - Immobility - salute. Proceed in collected trot. ........................................... Here are the tests... I'll see all of you at GP this summer! http://www.fei.org/disciplines/officials-organisers/organisers/dressage/dressage-tests Again, I'm caught with my jaw hanging, and no suitable response. After being told that this is why she doesn't do dressage (she jumps),...