August Week 4 and Month Review

So, um, I didn't really keep up with the last week of August. I rode several times, I had some really good rides, and I had two really bad rides (1 dressage, 1 jumping).

Plan of attack is to be more patient with dressage, using lots of strengthening and suppling exercises to concentrate on building her fitness so she isn't as tempted to evade. For jumping, lots of remedial, calm, slow gridwork, plus reinstallation of half-halts when riding outside.

Here's the month review.

August Goals: Bring Pandora slowly but steadily back into regular work. Include at least once-weekly walk hacks around the conditioning loop. Slowly reintroduce jumping before a lesson on the 17th, where I will tell the instructor that I want to take it pretty easy. By the end of the month, establish a level of fitness where Pandora is capable of a light XC session, a two-mile hack with lots of trotting, or a 50-minute dressage school without feeling tired. Maybe not to the cardiovascular galloping fitness of before, but to a comfortable level.

Evaluation: Success, for sure! She's pretty much back to normal - needs to build up more musculature and suppleness for more difficult work, but a 60-minute dressage school is well within her capabilities, as is a light XC session. She has stayed sound.

September Goals: Capable of 60-minute dressage session of mostly trotting and cantering or a 45-minute jumping session. To accomplish this, we'll split things up: ride for 40 minutes in the indoor, spend 10 minutes doing gridwork in the outdoor, head to the big field for some trotting and cantering, then hop through the grid a few more times.
Completely relaxed about gridwork, including multiple-stride lines, outside. Successful ride at the Brian Sabo clinic, with a well-behaved horse and lots of new tools. Jumping up to 3' at least once, spending most time around 2'6 - 2'9.
Light, balanced leg-yields at walk and trot, further-developed lateral work (TOF, rudimentary TOH, shoulders-in, etc).