March Week 1 Review and Week 2 Outline

Monday 3/2
Did not ride. Lots of homework to do!

Tuesday 3/3
Another homework night. She got free longed both nights, though, so she got to work off some energy.

Wednesday 3/4
Sigh, another free-longeing night....because I rode McKinna! A girl in our Pony Club may use McKinna for the SJ rally, because her horse is working through some training issues and they don't want any setbacks. She is trying her out tomorrow night, so I hopped on to make sure she hasn't forgotten how to work ;) She did great. We did w/t/c both directions, and I set up a zigzag pole rollback exercise. We walked and trotted over it (our arena's too tight to expect her to canter it), but then as we were cantering, I'd change directions across one pole and ask for a flying change. The first time I didn't set her up right, but then we got two in a row! Impressive considering we never worked on flying changes...

Thursday 3/5
Finally rode tonight. I had a very good ride! We did a lot of cantering over a low cavaletto, a 2' ish vertical, and then a 2'3 ish narrow fence with bright yellow and red planks. Pandora was just lovely. I am REALLY getting somewhere now that I sit up and carry my hands all the way to the base of the fence - she holds a steady pace, I can half halt, her shoulders are higher, everything's good.
She still will not land on the left lead. I got her to do it once, by really asking hard. I have a call in to the chiropractor, but in the mean time I will just keep doing lots of bending and stretching as I ride. She picks up the lead fine and canters well (not as well as to the right), so it's not drastic, but still.

Friday 3/6
Christy lesson. Pandora did pretty well. I spent most of the lesson focusing on McKinna - the girl rode her tonight and they looked fantastic together! I'm excited.
Anyway - my ride was okay. She is doing very nicely at the canter. I have to work hard still to hold it together, but it's a huge amount better than when we first started. Her transitions to the right are turning into a thing of beauty! Light, fluffy, balanced, everything a canter transition should be.
The jumping just wasn't my favorite. She goes better when I ride better, of course. She had a very brief meltdown about a car driving past outside [in the dark], and I was pleased that she came back to me and began focusing after only a few minutes of acting silly. Still, the jumping just wasn't as good as I'd like it to be. I guess we just weren't 'on' tonight. We got some nice fences and some not-as-nice fences. I feel like she would do better if the jumps were just a little higher, but I'm also uncomfortable suggesting that because there's a pretty big ideal that 'if you aren't doing well over lower things, don't move them up.' I believe in this - I do, I do. It's just, she really DOES tend to do better over bigger things!
Still, before I say something, I need to do more homework over high and low fences. We will see how next week goes.

Saturday 3/7
Free-longed. I was very tired from last night. I will set up a short grid tomorrow to ride through.

Sunday 3/8
Set up a simple grid - just 4 trot poles 4'6" apart, then 9' to a low X. I figure I will slowly build up the complexity of our grids, since she seems to get anxious when she encounters them. She was lovely through it. Just a short ride, but it was productive, and we both enjoy rides like that sometimes where we don't spend a long time working on our issues but correct a few things and call it good.
Still doesn't want to land on the left lead unless I exaggerate the cue ridiculously. We will keep playing with this, but hopefully it goes away when the chiro visits!


Week 2 Outline

Monday 3/9
Flatwork schooling. Toss the dressage saddle on, grab the dressage whip, and work hard! We will practice leg-yield, correct shoulder-in (need to make sure Mom can be eyes-on-the-ground and maybe do some filming), and we will reeeeeeeeally practice our transitions.
I also need to regain a bit of the sharpness of my half-halts.

Tuesday 3/10
Jump some single fences. I will set up a low, wide oxer and a single, taller vertical. I'll do regular w/t/c schooling, focusing on getting that left bend without leaning over the left shoulder, and sprinkle jumps in here and there.

Wednesday 3/11
Night off - free longe and lots of love!

Thursday 3/12
Set up a simple grid. 3 trot poles 4'6 apart, 9 feet to a biggish Swedish oxer.

Friday 3/13
Jumping lesson.

Saturday 3/14
Day off.

Sunday 3/15
Light flatwork school.