I think I have a cold coming on. My throat feels like its full of straw, or possibly hair. However, on Tuesdays I am never sick, even if I happen to actually be sick. Wouldn’t do to miss a riding lesson over some little cold, or any other sort of illness for that matter. I have actually found that I ride quite well on strong painkillers too, so even if I had needed some it wouldn’t have been a deterrent. They make me very relaxed. Didn’t need any painkillers today, though. Just lozenges. And once I was in the stables, the cold mysteriously went away, only to return later on the way back home. Funny how that works.
Of course, getting Murphy again may have had something to do with that. He was, again, quite easy to get ready, though the group before us had once again been late so I had to interrupt him while he still had some hay left and that was not appreciated. Some mint-flavoured horse treats were needed to make up for the disturbance and the hay that had to be left until after our class.
The exercise for today was one we had talked about two weeks ago, during the previous dressage lesson. It consisted of turning in at the middle of the short end of the arena and riding a circle that ended up taking us in the opposite direction to the direction we were following along the square. After one full turn on that circle, we were supposed to do a walk to canter transition, asking for the canter that would be correct if we were intending to remain on the circle. But instead we’d ride at an angle towards the long side of the arena, so that once we reached the wall and continued on forward until the corner, we’d be riding a counter canter. And this probably makes no sense at all when I try to explain it without the benefit of some instructional sketches. But basically, an exercise to get us to do a short bit of counter canter.
As I have tried to do the last weeks, I worked on making my riding effective from the start, and again Murphy seemed to respond quite well. Not as well as a couple of weeks ago—in comparison with that he lacked some energy and initiative—but quite well even so. I did wonder briefly if the general improvement I have noticed of late has just to do with my riding and his general willingness to work or if the Thiedermann-reins being set slightly shorter than before had much of an effect. I actually ended up asking my instructor afterwards just how they work, and she noted that the main thing they do is just keep him from having his head up too high. If he actually keeps it down and works in a reasonable form from the start, they have very little effect, save for the fact that they they can help define the frame just because he feels something around his neck. Given that I rarely have problems with him putting his head up these days, I may try him without them next time, just to see.
During the warm-up, which was more or less left up to each rider to decide how to handle, I worked on getting Murphy to move forward well and to following turning aids without resistance. Overall, I was pretty happy with his response, though he must have heard we were supposed to practice counter canter because both my attempts to canter resulted in just that. Sadly, not on purpose, not for the warm-up. He did, however, do the transitions quite well, so that was a plus. Still, it made me concerned about how he’d handle the main exercise, especially in the direction where he’d end up needing the leading leg he prefers not to use for the counter canter.
I should not have worried, however. I don’t think he got the wrong leading leg more than possibly once, and that one I am not sure about. We did maybe six or seven transitions in each direction, and I’d say half were very good, another quarter good and the last quarter okay to so-so. For a horse that used to have to trot fast and ‘fall’ into canter, that is a pretty amazing change. He managed almost all the transitions straight from walk, and even though his co-ordination problems were noticeable in most of them, he knew what was being asked and he tried to give it, every time.
I didn’t get anywhere near the explosive energy of that amazing lesson a few weeks ago, but most of the time he tracked pretty well on the circle, respecting both the inner and outer leg aids, and he responded quickly to the canter aids. For my own part, I managed to sit pretty dead still through all of the transitions, and I could really feel them through my seat. A very good feeling. I did have a bit of a problem a few times with a slight loss of energy in the canter once we got past the initial stretch and out onto the main path. That’s where the horses really start feeling the extra effort from doing a counter-canter, and the instructor noted that I had to prepare for that by asking for more energy before that point, instead of after it happened.
A related issue that cropped up was my inner leg. I have a habit of pulling it up too much when I use it to sustain the canter, and today I had a hard time correcting it without losing some energy. I guess I basically ended up not using the leg effectively enough whenever I stretched it out. More pilates needed, so I can apply pressure without bending the leg. I think this will be something I will ask to focus on if I do get Murphy for the private lesson for Christmas.