Dressage & Other Schooling

Tokaj and I went to the indoor arena nearby today. She did really well. I am very rusty and can tell that much of the time... more than 75%... I am in her way. The other 25% of the time she is just going great. We worked on me sitting straight. I am the Queen of Crooked as usual, and stirrup leathers that are not the same length sure do not help matters. How can I have done as much as I have with horses and still be riding in stirrups of two different lengths?? I am disappointed in my Stubben leathers though. They have really done some stretching. They were uneven by TWO holes from the mounting side and the off side. Thank goodness for arenas equipped with mirrors. Sigh.

Today I was not going to focus on big tasks as much as getting Tokaj and I more used to one another before we head off to our first dressage lesson with Karin Glynn next Wednesday. Karin is from Norway, trained for dressage in Germany, and has trained to Grand Prix... which is far more knowledge than I am going to need at the moment, but it is nice to know that no matter what level I reach, she can definitely help. Karin trains out of Stonewall Farm in Kearney which is about eight to ten miles from me. I went to look at the facility and am sure impressed. The indoor arena is very large, and has footing made of synthetics and rubber. Very nice on horse's joints and feet. I am going to have Karin help me develop a better partnership with Tokaj. We have many specific areas that need improvement, but I am not sure where to best start. Some of the areas might be fixed with improvement in others so that is going to be where I need Karin's help.

I did work on some basics today that are not so much dressage oriented as western inspired. Tokaj is learning to stop like a Quarter horse rather than having the rider drag her to a disorganize halt with the reins. I know that dressage riders often do not teach "Whoa" to mean stop right now... but I like emergency brakes and think they should be installed in the first few rides on a colt. I also like manuverability for riding outside of the arena. Tokaj is learning to be more manuverable, backward, and sideways. She learned how to assist the rider when opening a gate from her back today. I have never had a horse that I could not do basic trail riding manuvers on, and won't be starting now. Tokaj is very very smart and quick. Her thinking process is like this: 1.) Do I have to? 2.) Try a couple evasions to make sure I have to. 3.) Learn quickly and do it right so we can do less work. I can't say I dislike her thinking and she got the gist of opening gates in fifteen minutes or less. We can stop quickly and balanced on the hindquarter from the walk and trot, on a loose rein. We are still working on stopping from canter. We sidepass, turn on the forehand, and are working on turning over the hindquarter and disengaging the front end. I think these basic movements are key to any riding horse, and rider safety.

I will let you know how the lesson goes with Karin. I am anxious about making at least a decent impression... but Karin knows we are basically starting from scratch with an old rusty rider, and a horse from a different discipline. Hope she has LOTS of patience! And I will be sure to make sure at least my stirrup leathers are the SAME length!

;)
P~