Leg yields and cross rails

A private lesson on Friday gave me opportunity to work on leg yielding. Some lesson ponies will cheat for you and leg yield to one direction with just the gentle tap tap of your opposite foot. This pony required diligence in terms of using the reins to keep his front half from turning in the direction of the yield. It took a surprising amount of concentration to ensure the back legs hit the rail first when leg yielding from the quarter line out to the rail. We did it at a sitting trot, then gradually added a canter over a cross rail on the opposite side, going both ways. And now I know that doing the leg yield properly means the pony is in position to get the correct lead when asking for the canter :)

I'm getting better about what I privately term "removing myself from the situation". In otherwords, feeling independent of the pony as he jumps over the cross rail, so I can get out of the saddle far enough and for long enough to not get in his way, while keeping leg on. Working on it. It's not perfect, but jumping cross rails doesn't make me nervous anymore, so it's allowing me to loosen up, which leads to so much more progress!

Noticed one of the horses had a blanket on when I drove up that morning. Guess it's that time of year! But honestly, I'm over sweating in my Charles Owen (no vents, ugh). So I'm happy about the cooler weather when it comes to riding!

Green on green and we're o.k.

Rode a 5 year old wobbly ottb who enjoyed going to the middle of the ring, pretending to spook, bobbing hello to everything everywhere and thinking leaving the ring sideways was a good trick. In short, green met green on Saturday and it was a good thing it was a private lesson.

It took a while to get the hang of him, but we learned he went better on the right rein and that he had been western broke, so a little neck reining with an open rein kept him on the rail. Had to use the crop a little bit, but once I got him going it was fun. He had a really big canter stride and when he ran into it the first time it was a little iffy (and he got on the wrong lead). Keeping him on the rail correctly while getting him on the correct canter lead was a little tricky! I had to get him over, make sure he was straight, keep a lot of leg on, and then turn his head in a little to get the lead without him falling in. It was a great experience, and we were both too green to do much more than focus on all that for the first lesson.

The next day he was sold (?!) so oh well, I guess that's the life of us students. Just thankful we can get experience on different horses when we can :).

JK on that progress...

...Well, no, I HAVE been learning a few things. Like sending a disinterested pony over ground poles if he does not have pace can lead to a bit of a tumble. My instructor had us looping around the outside ring and approaching ground poles correct at the trot, then canter. At the trot, the pony slowed waaay down and tripped over the poles, landed on his knees and I landed on my feet. On the ground. I guess that's what makes learning on short ponies so great. Question here, should I have tried to stay on? I was sort of worried he would really fall down and I would get crushed, but maybe that's just a weird fear. In any case, I sprang to my feet and aborted. Had to get back on and drive him forward better.

Learned a few things:

Path: The poles were on the short side, off the rail, and my instructor pointed out they should be taken on a bending line because of this.

Pace: Getting a good pace has to happen before said path and maintained on the approach. This pony is SO over crops that he doesn't respond well to them (see previous post), so next time we will use a dressage whip, and my instructor might show me how to use spurs with him.

I think riding has made me a bigger fan of the seasons. Our lesson was so hot on Sunday at noon that I thought I was going to puke. Hello, fall!

Angelina