Independent Student

Another day, another Dressage lesson on Roman (and possibly another one tomorrow if Silver isn't available). The day started with the usual trek across the pasture to catch him because the only place he likes to graze in that massive piece of land is the area furthest from the gate. Much to my delight, his saddle got passed around more than usual and ended up with a nice, sparkly pad. It would've gone nicely with my Horze chaps, but I prefer my Mondonis when I'm in Dressage tack.

DQ mode enhanced

While Miss El was warming up Artec, she had me do hip stretches and arm circles because these old joints need stretching. Believe it or not, Roman was actually a bit fresh, well, as fresh as Roman could be. He was a bit looky and dodgy at the walk, then we went to trot, and holy inconsistencies, Batman. I'm still not chilling with these stirrups 100%, Roro. Please don't make me have to half halt.

Big, sweaty baby

I did a lot of trot work with rather minimal direction. I got bored going to the left, so I switched to the right, then I got bored of being on the rail, so I started doing serpentines. Then I got bored of posting, so I started sitting. Of course, the judgmental watchful eye of trainer was there giving me all sorts of corrections. Once I put myself onto the serpentine path, much of the ride was focused on accurately changing directions and reacting properly to Roman testing the contact. Being fresh made him a bit stiffer than usual, so more inside rein, more inside leg, and more give when he either gets it right or when he's straight up hanging.

Shameless glamour shot of the old man

The trot keeps coming along, as does the canter. The left lead got shoddy at times (i.e. falling in on the short side), but he was much more consistent in the softness department. The right lead only took four tries to get this time. That's a major improvement. Maybe I kinda know what I'm doing with this Dressage thing.

Also, snow is in the forecast, so get ready for my annual shaming of the white nonsense.