All the puzzle pieces

This month I have been traveling all over the country for work, usually leaving Sunday evenings. So I'm pretty stoked that I've been able to consistently go to my weekend riding lesson. Obviously, my dream has always been to ride consistently during the week, but that is for another time in my life.

My husband came to a lesson this month and took a bunch of videos of what we are working.

• Transitions: We are working on asking quietly, like asking for the trot with just the inside leg, doing a downward transition by sitting deeper, etc.
• Canter: I can canter longer than i could before. I used to get disorganized and it would all fall apart before I made it all the way around the ring. I noticed in this video that I'm pumping my arms, and this is because i want to give the horse his neck and it just looks a little...artificial?
• Simple lead changes. These are pretty simple, but i also need to learn to avoid unnecessary ones by planning for the correct lead before the jump. 
• Sitting up and being forward to jumps. You'll see in the video that I've gotten better at this, and it's probably due to less fear going over a jump. Probably, as the jumps get higher, I will need to learn how to stay out of the saddle longer! In terms of being more forward, this is a balancing act for me. I ride one horse where if you rev her up too much, she starts bucking, and another where if you don't, he'll trip over the jumps. Definitely learning to fine tune.
• No-stirrup posting trot. Getting my leg at the girth and generally wrapping it around the horse correctly lasts about 4 seconds, and then it slips!

In the video below, you can see what we work on throughout a typical lesson, how my instructor builds up the jumps, and where my issues are. 

In last week's lesson, we worked on going over a jump and doing a 10 meter circle at the trot, then the canter, to go over the jump again. I did not get it quite right at the canter. It comes up so fast! My instructor was kind enough to point out my horse's long back as part of the difficulty. But the canter is feeling better to me, so I'm confident I can get this soonish. I need to work on:

• Not leaning into the circle, just turning my torso (and using my eyes)
• Using the outside rein for the turn
• More half halts rather than pulling

Um...yeah, a lot of things need to click for me :)

Left lead right lead

I got to work on the canter a lot on Katie in my last lesson.

I usually find it difficult to ask her for the right lead, but this time it was clicking for me. We could switch leads by going into a few steps of trot.

We worked on me standing for two seconds and sitting for two seconds in the canter. I didn't really succeed in fully standing. I think my legs aren't really in the right position when I stand up (more forward), so it's more like a half seat.

Also, when I sit down, it's not soft enough and Katie would break into a trot. I'm thinking this means I need to maintain a light seat in this exercise.

We did a little jumping and went over a 2'6" standard a couple times, but it wasn't hugely successful, we couldn't get over the middle of the jump. I still call it a minor success because I used to be unable to get over a jump with her at all. She refuses if there is any leaning forward on my part at all.

She also requires being fine tuned in my aids. If I ask for a canter, but then keep asking too much, she will start bucking. I'm learning to sit up more when that happens, but my instinct is to grab mane, which means leaning forward.

Leaning forward is consistently my issue. I think I still do it in my trot to canter transitions, as well. I guess I have a fear of being left behind and losing my balance that way. I guess I have to let myself be behind the motion and then fine tune from there if I want to make progress - lesser of two mistakes?!