Soft Eyes Hard Eyes and an Update

 

Hard eyes, soft eyes is a Centered Riding concept I’ve known about for a long time but haven’t explored a lot.  THIS VIDEO explains it really well in about 6 minutes. Honestly, I’m shocked by how much it helps my feel, timing, and ability to sit back.  It’s a very small change, but it seems to be a gatekeeper for a lot of other positive things for me.  Could soft eyes be why sometimes things are easy and smooth for me, and other times not so much?  Time will tell.

Speaking of positive things, Cruise is going really well.  He is doing walk, trot, and about half a ring of canter on the buckle but in balance.  I’ve started taking up contact and practicing parts of Training Level test 2.  We’ve also been doing a ton of groundwork all around the property using a mix of Warwick Schiller and the TRT Method.  I’m hoping to film T2 for a Dressage Show Online competition this coming weekend and T3 next month.  That will make us eligible for the year end show in all the Training classes since I qualified for T1 last fall.

My goal is to have him on the buckle in all three gaits in the dressage court and comfortable all around the property before I start hauling out for lessons again.  I don’t think we’re that far off, but again time will tell!