Dressage Lesson

The day after our Tryon Training, WallE and I trailered over to our trainer's farm for a dressage lesson. It was an early morning lesson and lots of activity was happening at the barn. Horses were running, dogs were jumping and feed was being made. Lots and lots of distractions...which was perfect. I need tools to help WallE regain focus in busy environments such as horse shows, horse trails and busy barns. 

Molly Xanthopoulos was the instructor for the day and she had great advice. She watched me begin our warm up - which consists of riding a square and turning it into a circle once WallE is responsive. With all the commotion, WallE was less than responsive and Molly had the best advice...make the square smaller and put the pressure on. The result was almost immediate. She also noted that my outside hand was trying to be too soft. She explained that in times of distraction, WallE needs to feel the outside rein in order to understand what I am asking. We went both directions on the small square and then small circle, ending the exercise with leg yields out. 

Then we began venturing around the entire arena. He was very responsive and a joy to work with. Molly had me work on brining my hands closer together (something not possible at the beginning of the ride). We ended with leg yields from the quarter line to the outside and some really nice canters. 

The take away is to work on getting over the 'hump' in less time. This can be accomplished through the use of the small square to circle exercise and using the outside rein.