I was back on Murphy this week, perhaps because we were going to be doing a fair bit of cantering (which Murphy is bad at, but Hedvig is worse), or perhaps because Hedvig had already taken part in at least one jumping lesson and she doesn’t have the stamina for a full set of lessons so far. Of course, no complaints from me about riding Murphy. ;)
I did feel a bit of the same lack of energy as last week (no wonder, really, the way I’ve been feeling lately), and Murphy too felt a little uninspired. Even starting outside in the paddock (the group ahead of us was so late that I suggested we start there to get done in time) he was pretty mellow.
Fortunately, we launched into cantering pretty quickly. It was a bit of a stressful exercise, in that we had a lot of transitions plus a 10-meter canter circle, and it soon became evident that it was a little tough for most of us. Our instructor noted that she was seeing a lot of hasty, sloppy riding, and although I tried to keep cool I did find myself slipping back into bad old cantering habits. We were all a bit too concerned, I think, with keeping out of each other’s way.
I was also having some issues with the circles, allowing Murphy to bend like a banana. However, once I was reminded to straighten that out, what a difference it made. Getting him to track properly meant that the energy I had worked on building up in him suddenly had to pass through him instead of slip out to the side, and while I didn’t really get any canter work I was very happy with (though some circles came out okay-ish), I did get some great transitions to canter out of that. I could really feel him launching himself up with his hind quarters, it feels so different from his usual ‘fall into canter’ deal. So, I got a good feeling to take home with me.
I also discovered that my balance still sucks and that I need a much stronger mid-section. I tried to go without stirrups for a while, but while I do that fine when trotting and also for some canter work, transitions were hopeless. I just couldn’t keep a steady seat. Will definitely need to see what I can do to strengthen that.