Southview Farm is preparing for the upcoming George Williams clinic, and as part of the ‘Spring-Spruce Up’ Sandy got new furniture and carpet for the observation room. Nice, shiny leather couches and colorful carpet – reflecting brightly through the large row of arena windows. Especially the view from the mounting bench makes one feel like being right IN the observation room. Wonderful for ‘he who shies at light’!
Sandy did send me a happy email yesterday, reporting that Saumur got over the initial shock of “oh, what is this shiny stuff???” and worked well. OK, that’s nice, I thought, but history taught me that this didn’t mean Saumur would manage it the same way with ME on board. Even though he had to deal with the closed door at the same time Saumur stayed focused. It is such a great feeling when the horse really focuses on the work at hand, concentrating on the rider and the aids (hence ‘being on the aids’) not worrying about the various ‘monsters’ lurking everywhere.
We worked on keeping my OUTSIDE leg relaxed in the canter, inside leg more forward, both seat bones equally on, and really SITTING. Another pearl of wisdom from one of my previous lessons: Hunker down when things get dicey! Sandy gave me the analogy of somebody (we won’t name) trying to rile her up. Instead of getting ‘high’ (worked up) about it (the equivalent of coming out of the saddle), she just brushed it off and stayed ‘down’ (sitting deep in the saddle).
I have a tendency to clamp my legs on, especially when I feel he might spook, which in turn gets Saumur on high alert that there is really something he should worry about. So no more: The outside leg drapes down RELAXED.
We were able to do very small canter voltes right in front of the 'furniture monsters', and I could feel the beginnings of a pirouette, which was really cool!
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