Flatwork Lesson

Hi everyone!

So on Friday evening, I had a private lesson on a wonderful horse that excels in Dressage (or used to... he's still fab but no longer competes as far as I know). Anyway, given that I had my normal riding instructor and the horse doesn't do jumping, we got to working on movement and suppleness. For the first five to ten minutes or so, I was riding with really long reins to ensure that the horse was stretching through his neck. Trotting with long reins is a really weird sensation, and it made me realise how much I rely on them. It's not as though I pull on them for balance, but it kind of acts as a guideline for where my hands need to be, if that makes sense. I actually kind of liked having to find my position from feeling. It made me feel slightly more competent haha! Anyway, after this warm up we worked on getting him to bend through his neck, so up the long sides we were getting him to flex his head inwards (as in turning towards the centre of the school). His left side was so stiff in comparison to his right! We worked on bending until he was supple and then threw in some serpentines. Being able to feel the change in the bend when going across the school during the serpentine was awesome. I don't think I've ever really felt that before, but with this horse you really could, and knowing what I should be feeling meant that my aids were clearer too. We also did some circles, which consisted of a few accidental canters. I think I lightly touched him with the schooling whip by accident, and my outside leg had probably slipped back as I was concentrating on using my inside leg and hand to keep him bending. He was good in coming back to the trot though, so it was ok!

Then we got onto the cantering, and wow. This horse's canter is so lovely. You know how when you watch dressage you can see the impulsion of the movement, and you can kind of sense how free it must feel? I had that sensation. Honestly, the impulsion and control was in a perfect balance, and his outline just topped everything off. It was so incredible to feel that sort of powerful elegance and I really want to book another lesson on him just to experience it again. I love Bailey, but I don't think I've ever had a canter that emulates the same feelings just because I'm spending half the time checking him as he gets too excited and just wants to go faster and faster. That's not to say that all the cantering on Friday was perfect - there were a few moments where I lost the outline and had to collect him again, but it wasn't like he was running off to get the lesson over and done with. My instructor was really happy with my riding at the end of the lesson, but in all honesty I think it was due to the horse. If he had been having an off day, then my riding would have sucked. He's just so enthusiastic about flatwork and anything remotely dressage-y that it automatically allows the rider to focus on him or herself a bit more.

My favourite part of the lesson though was actually when I was putting the horse in his stall. He decided to move to make a fuss of my dad who was outside the stable door as I was taking a bandage off, so I just took the other three off as quickly as possible seen as the first one had become a mess anyway. So once I'd done that and managed to get out of the door whilst keeping the lovable boy in the stables, I then started wrapping the bandages up properly. Whilst I was doing this, he was rubbing his nose on my arm and it was adorable. It wasn't a "I have an itch so be my scratching post" - I would have moved away if it was. The nudges were more like "Hey, what are you doing? Can I see? Pleeeaaasseee? And pass me the food that's down there?" It was so cute <3 I felt bad leaving him but alas, I can't stay at the stables 24/7. The only downside of the lesson was the length of it. When going private I can only afford a half hour lesson, but I quite happily would have been riding for an hour. Definitely one of the best lessons I've had in a while.

Well that's all from me. I hope you are well, and I'd love to hear about some of your favourite riding experiences!

Until next time :)