Lower Leg Lightbulb Moment

 

Yesterday I was checking in with Facebook and viewed THIS reel about rider stability.  Lightbulb moment.  What if my eternal quest to fix my pitched forward upper body has less to do with my upper body and more to do with my lower leg position?  One way to find out.

So, this morning I had a on the buckle ride at the walk, trot, and canter where I just concentrated on having my lower leg a bit more forward than usual.  Not as far as recommended in the video but definitely out of the strict ear/hip/heel.  And OMFG it was amazing!  Everything on a loose rein, and balanced, even the left canter.  I felt him hesitate when I asked him to canter left on a looped rein like, “Are you really sure you want me to do this?”  After a couple of smaller canter steps he felt my different balance point and smoothly went into a lovely on the buckle left canter.  AMAZING.

I’m not advocating as much of a safety seat as suggested in the video BUT after looking at videos of Warwick Schiller, Tristan Tucker, Lucinda Green, and a host of other riders I admire, every single one of them rides with a lower leg that is a bit more forward than the average adult amateur dressage rider.  It’s unreal to me how big of a difference this small, easy, change made in my balance.

Shout out to FB reels for making one of my lifetime goals with Cruise happening, walk/trot/canter on the buckle, in balance, and with ease.

First Level Test 2 Take 1

 

Slight change of plan.  I decided to try First Level Test 2 for my second online competition this year.  I figured since it adds leg yields and canter lengthens and he is good at leg yields we would go for it.

I was really pleased with this test.  It was much more forward in general, I sat up better in the canter so he was more forward and better balanced, and overall it felt and looked pretty good.

I thought the further remarks were on the money and adding them to the comments on Test 1 gives me a good working template for the next couple of weeks.  The championship show is in the beginning of August and I’ll be doing both tests.  I think I can definitely improve on Test 1 but I’m not so sure on Test 2.  The weakness in Test 2 is the canter and that is a matter of strength which is going to take some time to improve.  See Test 2 HERE if you’re interested.

First Level Test 1 First Take

 

The good news is I got our online test results back and we cracked 60%.  I feel like the judge was (quite!) generous on a few things but I’ll take it!

Lots of useful remarks and everything basically lined up with what I saw when viewing the test.

I thought the Further Remarks were really detailed, positive but realistic.  I’ll be using them as my template for the next couple of weeks until we film the test again and give it another shot.  View the test HERE if you’re interested.  

An Interesting Take on the Half-Halt

 

This is a really interesting take on the half-halt.  I’ve been using it the past couple of weeks with great success for better downward transitions, walk pirouettes, and even more engaged full halts.  Not a long video, see it HERE, you won’t regret it.