Even though I still feel like I'm in a fog the good news is I am functioning again. Mainly, I am just VERY tired, all the emotional stress is taking its toll. I do feel guilty because Michael has to carry the brunt of the work (due to the fact he lives close by and I'm an ocean away). Hard to fathom how elderly people deal with the myriad of complicated issues after the death of a spouse without help.
On the home front Remy has benefitted a lot from me being gone... actually, I am reaping the benefits of Roz' work. I can use very light aids and Remy just floats over correctly in the half-passes. His flying changes are more 'up' and expressive. Last week we had a nice, sunny day (still not a common occurrence in our neck of the woods) and both Remy and I enjoyed being able to work in the spacious outdoor arena. It was the first time outdoors (in Michigan) this year. Yay!
We are working on clearer transitions within the gaits, i.e. from very collected trot (almost half-steps) to extended. A cool exercise is starting the half-passes very collected then increasing the pace, then bringing him back.
Remy's canter is a lot of fun, and we are getting the right lead (his weaker side) to be more balanced and supple. A few steps of leg yield in really do help with the straightness. My tight back is often an issue -not enough swing-, and I also revert sometimes to how I was taught in the beginning: Using my back as a 'weapon'.
Roz had the perfect solution to that, she told me to "bring the saddle up", instead of pushing my seat down in the canter. And voila: We had a bounce in our step … and I felt like I could go on cantering into the sunset. But alas, we are in Michigan, and today the sun seemed to be on strike. Actually, it is so cold I pulled the down vest out again. The cold spell is probably due to the fact that I had wrapped the horses' winter blankets up to take to the cleaners.
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