Something Like Progress

It's been a while since I've shared a proper riding and training update, seeing that saddle searching has occupied most of my barn time over the past two months. But we're still working hard, still scrabbling our way towards Second Level, still sorely in need of a few lessons.

Strength-and-fitness-wise, both Dino and I are way, WAY stronger than we were at the beginning of spring. He continues to build insane amounts of muscle, I've been trying my best to stick to a weightlifting program despite injuries here and there, and the hard work is showing on both our parts.

Dino's strength is shining through in how easy it's become for him to be consistently connected and in an uphill balance. In all gaits, he has so much more sitting power and lift through his withers, and it takes so much less effort on my part to get him there. As long as I'm sitting in neutral and engaging my lats and core appropriately, Dino comes up to meet me. It's a very cool feeling! There's not really a whole lot of "asking" him to come round and on the bit anymore these days - I just make sure my body is accommodating of his, and round and connected has become his preferred position. He's much easier and more even to bend in both directions, and a half-halt now REALLY engages his hind legs, especially in trot. He feels like a real dressage horse these days! Dino has also become a lot stronger in counter-canter, and can canter through shallow corners to the right while keeping his balance, which is a HUGE improvement over where we were with that at the end of winter. The quality of his gaits continues to improve - our "warm up" gaits are now something I'd be happy to take into the show ring at First Level, and after jumping a couple tiny logs outside the other day, Dino landed in the most delicious, round, powerful, uphill canter all on his own. His neck is also getting huge and muscular and I love it!

Working on my own strength has its dividends as well - sitting the trot through an entire test is no longer the daunting task it seemed back in January, and the stronger I've gotten through my torso, the more I'm able to use aids besides my hands, which Dino greatly appreciates. I still find myself getting too strong with the reins at times, but Dino immediately inverts and puts his head in the air when I do that, reminding me to let go and use my core muscles instead!

All this improved strength and fitness has made the work easier in some ways for both of us, but the lack of instruction over the last few months shows in the lack of progress in my technical skills. I seem to keep breaking movements periodically, then fixing them, then breaking them again. One week I'm SURE I've found the best way to ride shoulder-in, the collection improves, and I think we could head down centerline at 2nd tomorrow. Then the next week I can't get the shoulder to move at all and asking for lateral work just gets me a cranky, inverted pony. I've broken-and-repaired the counter canter a thousand times as well, the haunches-in only seems to be happening going left, and my canter-walk transition is still dismal.

I know most of this has to do with my own timing and application of the aids - I'm just trying a lot of things right now and seeing what works - and not having someone on the ground to help me identify what the correct aids feel like is making progress slow and inconsistent. I have, at least, identified a few things that I'm trying to get correctly on a more frequent basis:

• I can improve and sustain the collected canter by riding Dino very forward up and into the front of my torso, which I hold very strong, while lifting the front of my pelvis up. It feels a bit like making room for the withers to come up as well as providing a place for the energy of the hind legs to go and be held. This is the same sort of posture I use in collected walk, and I feel a little silly for not having realized until now that it also applies at the canter! 
• ... this posture also allows me to send a more effective half-halt in canter, which allows me to better time the "drop" of my seat down into the saddle when Dino's hind leg comes forward to ask for a walk transition. It's all very tricky for me right now, but I've gotten it correctly a few times and I think I just need practice! 
• I can't ask for a canter-walk transition unless the canter is very collected and fluffy feeling! If I ask out of a sub-par canter, I'm not going to get the transition. 
• A big problem in the shoulder-in is a lack of connection into the outside rein, as well as a lack of straightness, especially going to the right. If I can establish a strong connection on the outside, and use my inside seatbone to pull Dino's inside hind leg towards his outside shoulder, I can move his front end to the inside more easily, and thus the shoulder-in actually increases collection, as it should! 
• Similar to my observations on the canter-walk, my trot-halt-reinback is only going to be round and smooth if it happens out of a straight, powerful, balanced trot. If the trot is good, the halt is square and round, and if the halt is square and round the reinback is easy and light. If it's not... the whole movement is hideous. 
• I need to use WAY LESS rein aids than I want to! If I feel Dino getting tense in his neck or poll, it usually means there's too much tension in my arm. Especially when asking him to connect on the outside, the aid has now become an engagement of the lat on that side and a gentle closing of the fist while softening my bicep, elbow, and forearm. There is no more pulling to "take contact". This is a hard lesson to learn! 
• Everything is getting way more subtle and way more precise, and I CAN'T WAIT until I can have a lesson again to get help dialing in these new aids! 

I'm thankful to have been able to keep riding over the past few months, and while it's frustrating to feel a bit stalled out, I know our newfound strength and fitness will only help us slingshot forward in training once we are able to have help again. My new saddle will certainly be a boon as well, and while my jump saddle is working passably for now, I'm itching to get into our Frank Baines sooner rather than later. But, if I have learned anything over the past two and a half months, it's patience! Everything will come together in its time, and even with the waiting, I have a better, stronger, fitter pony to show our trainer when we're able to lesson again.