Lesson Recap: Light-bulb

That one crazy eye tho' LOL

    

On Saturday, Tesla and I had a Lesson with Trainer J.  There was one other student/trainer pair in the ring working with a high level dressage horse.  That particular trainer has a teaching style which could be described as "drill sergeant".  While this type of motivation is preferred by some riders (I heard the gal describe her lesson as "magical"), and may be necessary in certain situations, I personally don't do well under this type of guidance, and to be honest, it was making me uncomfortable. Tesla was a rock star - even when there was a bit of a mis-communication traffic jam on the short side of the arena. If we can work through this, we can handle anything I laughed to myself. We had some lovely work where Tess was forward and balanced as Trainer J nudged us out of our comfort zone - a barn-mate commented, "Is that Tesla?!? I didn't even recognize her!" Apparently Tess was quite the hot topic, as I also heard Drill Sergeant say that she likes her better with more weight/topline. 

    Some take-aways:

    Give with your hands when you sit at the posting trot.

    Get her head on straight - then ask for the trot - this was a light-bulb moment for me: Sometimes Tess would shake her head, and while I knew she was uncomfortable, I didn't know why (saddle-fit? girth?? bit???) and now I know: balance!

    When she gets scared, give her a hug (i.e. put a leg on!) and look the other way from the scary thing.

    HW:

    Use the whole ring when it is quiet.

    Canter down the long side!

    Serpentines, lots of serpentines.