Light as a feather 

On Monday, we had our regurally scheduled lesson with Laura (our trainer). The dressage arena was set up, so we worked on the flat in the jump saddle. Laura had us begin our lesson with a diamond exercise. Turning from light rein pressure and keeping WallE forward. This was hard for me, I want to try to support the horse with my leg and keep everything together. Only using the rein aid to turn makes me uncomfortable. However, this exercised sharpened WallE's aids (leg aid move forward - reinforced every now and then by the dressage whip; rein aid - follow the rein faster). 

As soon as I started to use less aids, WallE became round and we were ready for what was next. Laura had us ride the diamond and then our quarter line with a leg yield to the rail. At first WallE was fussy, then he was responsive with his head in the air, eventually we figured out how to stay round and move sideways. The secret? Savannah needed to stop trying to force the movement. Once I lightened up with my leg aid, WallE became a fancy dressage horse. I did not even have to displace my leg - I just used my weight and an ever so slight flex of the inside leg muscles to move him over. Amazing. 

What did I take away? To lighten up.