Sunday, November 25, 2012

When the time is right ... when both of us are prepared...

And no, this is not about the effects of a little blue pill. Rather, the ecstasy that comes from a different source. I am referring to the holy grail of upper level riding, the so sought after but elusive high a lot of riders never reach: True collection.

Well, today was our day! We were ready, prepared... and then in the canter we hit our stride: I could feel Saumur's body really rounding underneath me, he lowered his haunches, carried more weight on his hindquarters and lightened the front: FABULOUS! It really is such an awesome feeling,  all of a sudden we move as one.

OK, people, it's not a replacement for 'you-know-what' -- but nevertheless, I could have smoked a cigarette afterwards :-) !

Of course, we had worked on collection before, and we usually reach a decent degree. Good enough to get through our Third Level tests. But today it truly felt 'right on'. It took a lot of hard work, many lessons and plenty of sweat; and the clinic with Jan certainly has helped us to finally get 'over the edge'.

So what's with the little blue pill? It only took a couple of Grand Prix trainers, the USDF president, and an Olympian to get us there!

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