A big improvement.
Those were Sonia's words - she says that there has been a big improvement in Jazz's elevation and submission. Both of which deliver a big improvement in his overall performance, of course. We had a relatively straightforward lesson, catching up after six or more weeks without having seen her. We still covered shoulder in, travers, flying changes, collected to medium to collected trot, almost-piaffe and half pass.
I think that we have got to the bottom of the problem with half pass left. I had a couple of tries and he was not moving over into the bend, so I stopped to discuss with Sonia what was going wrong. She asked me to do some turn on the forehand and was surprised at how responsive Jazz was in moving away from my leg - clearly not a case of not knowing that aid then ... So she thought for a bit and then suggested that Jazz was having trouble distinguishing my left aid from my right - that he was interpreting both legs as "move over" and therefore carrying straight on forwards. She suggested that I hold the bend to the left by moving my left leg forward in front of the girth. We tried that, and bingo - over he went. How great it is to have a thinking teacher who puzzles things out with you like that!
His flying changes were the best that he has done in the indoor school, one or two not quite both ends at the same time, but all attempted on the aid. My big problem is an overwhelming urge to lean forward as I ask for the change and that allows him to flick his bum up and disunite the change. I MUST stop doing it!! Overall he really behaved well. He was a bit tiresome weaving in the lorry, but he does tend to regress when he hasn't travelled for a while. He was roped in, so there was no problem, but there certainly would have been if the ropes weren't there.
We have been paid a big compliment too. Sonia has not only closed her books to new customers because she is too busy, but she has also told some of her existing customers that she can't teach them any more. We are on the list of people she enjoys teaching, and she said she was glad to see me again. Not half as glad as I was to see her - I was suffering from a lack of focus for Jazz's work. Come the warm weather, we will be off competing at elementary and medium this summer. I even expect to enjoy it!
C
posted by cptrayes @ 4:22 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Wonderful lesson! I love it when a good teacher can find a relatively simple solution to fix a problem. (Lockie Richards used to do that.) Moving your left leg to the girth so Jazz understood not to move away from it with his hind end, but rather just from his middle did the trick nicely.
So often we do not apply the aids the same from one side to the other and we don't realize it because we are just naturally right or left handed. Then we end up training our horses crookedly. It's a tricky business learning to apply the correct aids on both hands. (One I am still trying to master.)
I tend to lift my seat out of the saddle on the changes too. And, it's easy to get into the habit of looking down to see the lead. I join your efforts to stop doing that!
What a nice compliment from Sonia to keep you on. You are justly pleased. And, by the by, quite proud of Jazz! He is finally grown up.
course you'll emnjoy it!
particularly when you watch all the faces of the people who will want to know where you've come from being so good and they've never seen you out before!
You are assuming that I won't mess it up with my tension Claire!
Jean I actually left him in his stable this morning while he waited for his taxi, and put the other two in the field. I would not have done that in 2009, he would have broken down the door. It's new maturity on his part that has let me do it now. He is certainly growing up now he's approaching eight years old.
C
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