Burning Abs and Other Side Effects of Dressage Lessons

Rico saw the chiropractor on Saturday and his back is all better! He was just a tad out in his pelvis and lower back, plus a little sore in his under neck and lower back- all very normal, according to my chiropractor, for a horse at his level. It was nice to hear how good Rico was looking too! I think he looks great but I'm a tad biased. 

I was able to work on the pirouette exercise on Sunday, then did another stretchy snaffle ride on Monday before my lesson tonight. 

The lesson was BRUTAL. Upon hearing that my back was okay to sit the trot (I sat on Monday and it was weak but not painful), Tracey proceeded to demonstrate over and over again that despite the level I'm riding at, I have NO idea what I'm doing up there. 

It's all a lie up there... 

Lies! 

First was attacking my position. I've always been a *pretty* rider, not always very effective, but I always sat pretty in the tack. Because of this, no one really taught me HOW to sit in the tack, especially at the trot. I told Tracey this and she said that a lot of trainers neglect the trot biomechanics on people who aren't actively against the horse. I can see how that happens, I certainly don't spend weeks and months improving the sitting trot in my riders who don't need it. But at this level and as we're moving (albeit at a snails pace with a lot of obstacles in front of us) toward Grand Prix, I need to sit perfect in the tack.

So today I had one of my first lessons on the biomechanics of sitting the trot. 

I tend to get behind the motion slightly. Tracey said that the front of my body from my collarbone to the saddle and the back of my body from my shoulders to the saddle need to be the same length. I was shortening the back of my body and lengthening the front of my body which would then lead to my reins being too long and Rico being folded up slightly behind the vertical as I'm essentially waterskiing behind him. 

Instead, I needed to pull my seat back in the tack (which is made harder by the riser pad under my saddle that I don't think I need anymore) and push my chest forward, not by arching my back, but by bending my hip. This allowed me to absorb shock better and VOILA my legs stayed still! I've been being harassed by Tracey about my legs for a few months now and no matter what I did, I couldn't keep them still without tightening my entire body up. 

She then insisted that I sit like this for the remainder of our lesson (uhhh what?). Despite my intensely burning abdomen, it was MUCH easier to ride once I was in the correct balance! Rico was a lot more forward and much better in the connection. It was also a lot easier for me to focus on the quality of the trot once I could actually feel the cadence better. 

We did some lateral work at the trot, playing with maintaining the cadence I had gained by sitting correctly, and also maintaining the lateral suppleness in the right half pass and shoulder-in. Rico tends to suck back away from the left rein, which means that in his lateral work to the right, he gets a bit tilty in the poll. 

After trot work, we briefly rode some walk pirouettes which reminded me that I needed to spend more time in walk. I struggle with feeling what is going on underneath me at the walk and can't aid effectively enough. Sigh...

We then played with the half pass at the canter. The right is fine, but the left is BAD. SO BAD. We spent a lot of time on it, but what we realized was that I am so crooked that direction that I don't know what a real half pass feels like. I'm always shoving him more and more sideways and more and more crooked that when he's doing it right, it feels bad, and when he's struggling and doing it poorly, it feels fine! 

So my homework is to stare at the mirror until I sit better and can half pass effectively! 

In other news, Rico's 18th birthday is TOMORROW!! 

Eighteen?!

AND guess who we see in a couple weeks?

Back to Alfredo!!