Today's chapter from Lessons With Lendon was regarding the half halt, though breaking it down into half whoas and half goes. First on a straight line and then on a circle. So, I got Sophie ready and we started off going large around the ring. I decided to work on half goes on the long sides and half whoas on the short sides, though I would often carry the half whoa portion out through part of the long side too, so that she wouldn't anticipate. It went pretty well, she was a lot more responsive off my leg than I thought she would be, that's for sure.
I was very pleased that she wasn't nearly as looky at the sunlight door, I don't know if it was because the light wasn't that bad or if she was less concerned because she saw much worse yesterday on the trail ride. After she was going good on the long/short sides we did a 20 meter circle in the center of the arena (at E, normally we were in one corner of the arena doing 20 meter circles). She worked pretty well at half whoas and half goes.
Half goes are when you lightly apply your leg to the horse, expecting a forward reaction. With Sophie, she speeds up the trot a little and takes bigger strides. You aren't looking for a specific reaction, just something "more". I only had to back up the leg with the whip once or twice the whole session.
Half whoas are when you still your arms (at the elbows) and stop following the horse to temporarily stop the forward movement. As soon as you feel a slight stall in the motion you release and go back to softly following. It's like breaking down a half halt, which is a rebalancing of the horse through seat, hands, and leg, all applied simultaneously.
In addition to working on the half whoas and half goes we did a stretchy circle to the left and worked a little on the canter in both directions on a 20 meter circle. Overall it was a good ride, though I think Sophie was a bit tired from yesterday, not too tired to trot or canter, she was perfectly willing to do that. But she actually had an easier time of being on the bit yesterday, on the trail ride, than today.
I was very pleased that she wasn't nearly as looky at the sunlight door, I don't know if it was because the light wasn't that bad or if she was less concerned because she saw much worse yesterday on the trail ride. After she was going good on the long/short sides we did a 20 meter circle in the center of the arena (at E, normally we were in one corner of the arena doing 20 meter circles). She worked pretty well at half whoas and half goes.
Half goes are when you lightly apply your leg to the horse, expecting a forward reaction. With Sophie, she speeds up the trot a little and takes bigger strides. You aren't looking for a specific reaction, just something "more". I only had to back up the leg with the whip once or twice the whole session.
Half whoas are when you still your arms (at the elbows) and stop following the horse to temporarily stop the forward movement. As soon as you feel a slight stall in the motion you release and go back to softly following. It's like breaking down a half halt, which is a rebalancing of the horse through seat, hands, and leg, all applied simultaneously.
In addition to working on the half whoas and half goes we did a stretchy circle to the left and worked a little on the canter in both directions on a 20 meter circle. Overall it was a good ride, though I think Sophie was a bit tired from yesterday, not too tired to trot or canter, she was perfectly willing to do that. But she actually had an easier time of being on the bit yesterday, on the trail ride, than today.
Oh, and I got her two sets of washable dressage boots from Tack of the Day. She has a wound on her neck, I think from Maddie, so I braided her mane again and put some Corona ointment on it. I'm not sure if I'll ride tomorrow or not, but I'll at least check Sophie out and check her wound. Tomorrow's my birthday and I'm going to dinner with my husband! I'm thinking I may just work on stretchy circles because I don't think I'll be able to ride on Thursday, and Friday through Sunday is out too. Stretchy circles seem to be something Sophie can do pretty easily and I think it'll be good for us. We'll also try playing with different rein lengths, because I don't want her to become dependent upon a short rein for balance, or to get used to carrying her head a certain way and not actually being through and on the bit. Plus, we can always practice more canter transitions!
4 comments:
Glad your ride was good. I love what Rober Dover says about half halts and transitions: "You gotta have go in your whoa and whoa in your go!"
Happy birthday!!!!
It sounds like you and Sophie are really enjoying your Lendon Gray book :)
Thanks for the info on the boots in your post below...may have to go check those out.
Sounds like things are going awesome. I love that book!!
Happy Birthday! Sounds like a really good ride today. Maybe that's Sophie's b'day present to you.
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