Lesson Review | 25/08/20

:cherry_blossom: Lily & Mocha :coffee: (in uni :pray: ) 08/27/20

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ꜱᴏꜰᴛ & ꜱᴜᴘᴘʟᴇ

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Got photos :satisfied:

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Look who's back at it with the lesson reviews :eyes: . Yes, it's me lol. I kinda haven't been doing much lately because they take quite a lot of time to write, but I'm coming out with one now. So I arrived at the barn about 10mins early and talked with my trainer until everyone else came. She then told me to get Annabel so I was like "aight". I've been riding Annabel regularly now for about five lessons now so I've gotten to know her pretty well. Annabel was all the way in the field and I have to go through a ton of gates to get her, but we got there xD. I then tacked that lady up and it was time to ridee.

When warming her up I give her a loose rein to relax and get warmed up. She is ridden in a strong bit so I really don't want much pressure on it at the start. I post the trot because I felt like it and changed the rein. After that I put a small amount of pressure on the reins and kept my reins at the exact same place. Sometimes I'll touch the martingale to force myself to keep my hands the same because they always change. I then put on leg to drive her into the and boom, she goes under. Keeping my hands the same pressure was key alll along. Because they move and pull when they shouldn't. Annabel can now come under with barely any pressure at all which is what it should be like.

Driving her forwards into the is also very important. If I just use rein, she won't come under and her stride will be choppy and short. Her head will pop up and she'll hollow through the back which is a big no :no_good: . We don't want no horse hollowing and building up the wrong muscles. So I set my hands to a small amount of pressure, not nothing at all, but not a big ton of pulling either. Then I gotta drive her forwards. As we go along, there'll be times when she pops her head up, but that's okay. It's hard for her to stay under all the time, but she'll soon go back if I keep everything the same. Something you don't want to do is increase rein strength, it's actually the opposite. Use leg! Drive them onwards and you'll soon see them come back under.

Going left, Annabel likes to fall in on her shoulder so I have to use inside leg and rein to push her out. Then when you go right, she falls out the outside shoulder so I need outside leg and rein. But it's pretty mild and not nearly as bad as Rajah so I can fix it. I also have to to sit nice and straight in the saddle and not look down! I always look down to watch the shoulders and check for bend, but I should feel it rather than see it. Annabel was a pretty good girl today, I'll definitely say that. Quite obedient and chill.

Also something that my trainer told me on the last lesson I think, but I'll say it anyway here as well. If you want your horse under and you apply rein, but get no reaction, you should stop and get them to give to you. You don't want to sit with a very strong and just ride along with your horse not coming under, because that's how you create hard mouths. With Annabel, she likes it if your hands stay the same with just a small amount of pressure. If I start putting heaps on her, she isn't going to come under because there is no relief there. There is no relief anywhere. So usually if Annabel wouldn't come under, I'd go to halt and let her give to me there. Once she gives the pressure will be released and she'd find relief.

Today's lesson we had no problem, but in the beginning I was still having trouble figuring it out. So I'll keep my hands the same with a small amount of rein and drive drive drive into the . If nothing happens, I'll go into halt and get her to come under for me there. You don't want tons of pressure with no reaction. So yeah, hopefully you catch what I mean there :joy: . So as the lesson went on Annabel was really searching for that and was nice and soft. Her neck was relaxed and it was just :ok_hand: . It's a great feeling having a soft and supple horsie.

That was basically that lesson. I've figured out how to get her nice and soft from the last few lessons so it was pretty much a breeze. I've learnt so much about how to get the horse moving well and I'm glad I figured out Annabel. She's actually improved a lot since I last rode her so I'm glad to see her improve. I then cooled her down on a loose rein and then dismounted. I untacked and popped her back into the field :muscle: .

It was a pretty good lesson! I feel I really get Annabel now and understand her. We don't fight each other anymore and she's such a bean. I hope y'all enjoyed this lesson review and stayed tuned for now. If you like reading lesson reviews, check out this Wiki Entry of lesson reviews lol.