Trialing New Dressage Trainer - Forward First & Foremost.

Tired derp face...herd is so far....

Two weeks ago my sister found a new dressage trainer, took a couple lessons and got a couple others on board who also rave about said coach so I thought I should give her a shot.

None the less, I have a great dressage coach but I just don't know if her style matches Solo. Hard to explain really but I am sure those reading understand in some ways.

So I booked a lesson for yesterday in hopes of having some one who understands babies who are quite unbalanced due to big movement and a bit sensitive and prone to internalizing stress.

Initially, I explained to her very little except that Solo was three and I needed some insight but I was not interested in weekly lessons, more like twice a month. 

She ended up showing up rather early so we had some time to chat while I tacked up.

I explained the above and she totally understood why I was concerned about where to push him and where to lay off.

With Solo you don't know if he is uncomfortable with a situation until he reaches a tipping point and something else tips him over the edge. He is like the challenge of squeezing an egg.... It just doesn't break no matter how hard you squeeze but a small prick of a pin can cause a break.

Analogies aside. We started the lesson with her watching my warm up and chatting about Solo, what I feel, what I have done, where I want to go etc, essentially the five W's. I also briefly explained what I have been doing in other lessons.

After watching us and having us get right to the canter, which I tend to avoid because it is so uncomfortable right now and he doesn't have a ton of strength or mental capacity to deal with all that goes into a canter. Seems simple but it isn't for him. Something as plain as picking up the wrong lead, him knowing it is wrong and him wanting to make it right can lead us to a jumbly, bouncing, tense mess. Never a good experience for baby brains.

Anyhow, I conceded and using the advice that I learned from long time coach a few weeks ago, feeling for where the right lead will be and supporting with outside aids so Solo stays on my inside aids, (sounds backwards but it's a miracle remedy for him right now). Solo picked it up just fine without much fuss though still head in my face the entire time, though apparently it doesn't​ look as bad as it feels. 

Long story short, we did a lot of low impact canter work, granted with lots of breaks, but she explained that I am paying her to help me with areas I am not as strong. Though, she still had great advice for my walk and trot, though those being much stronger than our canter. 

Our walk she says is good and forward for his age. Little tweaking there.

Trot, Solo is starting to soften to the right, left still pretty wonky and tense but has slight moments where softness is coming. She noticed that "our wheels come off in the corners", so she has me give a slight, slight tap on Solo's inside hip going in and coming out of the corner. This really made him lift his inside hip and take a longer, deeper step under. Weird but makes sense!

I had struggled with Solo taking a huge and I mean toe flicking huge, reach up front but not being able to reach as deep behind. Strength totally, but in order to build strength he needs to try. 

My last coach recommended to hold him and only ask what he could balance for now. Also sort of makes sense especially since Solo is prone to stressing but also made me think of future confusion and trouble with going forward. 

New coach says always forward first and if it feels awful and bouncing, that's good! Erm?... But somehow I got it. Solo may not be able to hold it or contain for long but he will build strength in the right areas now rather than retraining later.

Overall the lesson felt confusing by the end. It took a few hours to digest before I actually pieced things together and things clicked. 

Sadly, I still didn't get any video but we are planning another lesson in two weeks in which she asked to warm him up and have a feel of what I experience. That I liked! This is my type of training! 

Feeling and seeing can be totally different, finding a coach wanting to experience both is enlightening and refreshing.

Til next time!

Ahh refreshing drink!