This week there was a small revelation. Hands. Specifically, their position. It matters.
I mean, I knew that before, but I thought I had mine at an okay height. Today, my instructor had me raise my hands quite a bit above my default position, and I found it made a big difference when it came to doing what she wants me to do with my shoulders (that is, getting them back and getting them relaxed).
I am not sure if she noticed it because I was decided to try Murphy without the help reins (actually, I forgot them, but I had been thinking about skipping them since during my last private lesson I rode without them and she suggested they may have been hampering me), and that changes his head position and my hand position a bit.
We continued to work on circles, and while it was a bit of a struggle at first, I did find I got better results without the help reins. Especially once I got my hands raised up a bit. I feels to me as if Murphy is easier to get into a proper form without the reins, and he also feels more supple. However, the form is less steady, perhaps because he’s so supple.
Once we were done with the warmup, we did the same exercise for most of the lesson, just varying the direction. We’d start by trotting on the long sides and then walking on the short sides, which included a 10 meter circle. Then we’d switch to walking on the long sides and trotting on the short sides and through the circle. Plenty of transitions between straight and curved paths to pay attention to, and transitions between walk and trot (sometimes at the same time as the straight to curved or vice versa transitions). Just the thing to make Murphy nice and supple, and towards the end he was getting kind of liquid.
So, now I have another body part that I need to get used to having in a different position. I’ll have to be careful not to overdo it, though.