Then I started thinking about how awful it was and how the one silver lining to losing the baby was that I would have longer to work with Sophie (and getting her going really well) before getting too big to ride. I'm going to take a break from riding until next week I think. We had a walk break and I had a good cry.
Then I picked up the trot again and we had much better work. Our canter work was really good tonight, I was able to get her to canter slower, but still maintaining the canter and it was a nice canter at that. Then I worked on riding off the 20 meter circle in the center of the ring to cantering down the long side and all the way around the arena. We were trying to lengthen the canter on the long sides and shorten it on the short sides. It worked pretty well the first direction, not quite as well the next, but decent, at least.
We worked on trot lengthenings and Sophie put forth her best effort ever. So that was pretty cool. Even Craig could see that she was extending her stride. We also did some spiral circles and Sophie was trotting really nicely and was very balanced even on the 10 meter circle portion, so that was great.
It was kind of funny, seeing Kim championing Sophie when I was frustrated with her. She seems to really, really like her. Like I said, the lesson ended really well, I just would have approached it differently in the beginning, until she was already soft and supple. Probably with leg yielding and spiral circles, and some serpentines. Then worked on the new stuff.
So it was a bittersweet lesson, seeing as how it's my last with Kim. I just need to relax and not put so much pressure on myself for my riding to be perfect to make up for other areas of my life sucking. We did get a lot of nice sitting trot work in as well.
4 comments:
Well tell Craig that he did a good job with the colors on your blog!!!
About your surgery...the two OB/GYN's that I worked for would schedule it ASAP. I think that they did that so the couple could start to mourn and move on.
They also routinely saw (still see) women for their first OB's as soon as they came in for a missed/late period. By 12 weeks, most women had seen them at least twice.
I asked about the military, because I have family members and friends who have horror stories about dealing with them (healthcare system-wise) but what do you do??
Anywhoo...hope that all goes well with your surgery, and keep crying!! :)
Oh great! Does Craig come often to your Lessons?Tht is really cool~
Sorry 'bout the frustration you had,seems that there is a lot happening right now for you and like myself, you have some pretty steep expectations of yourself and your work with Sophie.But,turned out nicley! I know you wanted the memory of a working communication with Sophie for the last lesson.
And.... from what I could read from your written thoughts here...you understand her quite well~
I've had so many lessons like that! My trainer has finally gotten used to the fact that I cry when I'm frustrated and is learning to be okay with it. (The first time she freaked and thought it was something she'd said.) So, my sincerest sympathies. The really, really good thing as I read your post though is that you KNEW what Sophie really needed. Next time, tell your trainer. I know, it sounds simple, but the trainer wants to help you and your horse. That's what she's there for. I'm usually so frustrated with myself because I feel like Wanda needs *something* but I can't figure out what it is. So, from my perspective, even though it was a bummer to live through, your last lesson was a HUGE success. Be easy on yourself the next few weeks/months. And if you need to cry, do. If you need to talk, just shoot me an email :)
Thanks Melanie! Overall, delaying the surgery was good because it allowed me to have three extra riding lessons, even if the last one wasn't as great. I'll be glad to get it over with though.
Craig was actually at the lesson to video it. He normally has karate Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday (some Sundays too), so the only way I can get videos/pictures of a lessons are to ask him to miss karate. I feel bad doing that.
Thanks Jill! I feel bad because sometimes I'm "argumentative" with my trainer, but that's because I do a lot of reading on my own and sometimes what she tells me to do don't mesh up with what I've read...or I don't see how they do. After I told her again that I didn't think we should be doing shoulder in yet she asked me what I wanted to do instead, but I felt too stupid to just say that we should be doing leg yields or spiral circles until she was working like "normal". I'll make sure to speak up if it happens again, in another lesson. I'm still pretty new to dressage (as far as official lessons and there's a lot to actually doing it that you don't get from books) so not always confident in what we should (or shouldn't) be doing!
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