Can she do it?

Let me start this post by saying the journey with Bella has not been the easiest but somewhere along the way I think we both found respect and love for one another and now I wouldn't trade her for the world.

Today I had my lesson on Bella and if you've been reading my blog you'd know that we just came out of a sticky spot.  She was being quite a nasty girl because she hadn't been getting her proper dosage of hormones/drugs.  And during her nasty spell I was being overly demanding and riding to much through physical strength and not finesse.  But we have moved past that and the last two weeks things have just been getting better and better.  I really have been concentrating on using less of my hands and more of my seat and Bella is responding.

So in the lesson today we just built on the last two weeks and threw back in our flying changes.  We have worked on them a little through the winter but never consistently got them down either from weather or other issues.  But if we are going to be doing 3rd level any time in the future then we really need to get these down solid.  So after some really steady work we moved into doing the flying changes.  If Bella has one thing in common with me it is wanting to power through things and use strength.  She does this when she finds things difficult and little does she know that in the long run it will only make things harder.  So that is what she wants to do in her changes.  She grabs the bit, pulls her head up and charges away.  It's not very pretty!  But with Judy's guidance I was able to keep her rounder and much steadier in the connection and within a few attempts we had some pretty decent clean changes.  Yay Bella!

Now you might think that we are done for the day but nope much bigger things came about in today's ride.  Judy wanted to go through a 3rd level test but I don't have them memorized yet and she didn't have the booklet down at the barn.  So she runs up to the house to get the booklet and tells me to keep Bella engaged and not let her think we were done yet (once Bella thinks we are done for the day she totally goes into sleep mode).  So I gather up my reins and think to myself "keep Bella active" and what happens Bella offers some half steps.  I mean nothing that anyone else would probably be excited about but to me it was amazing.  So I kept my seat light but active and we went around doing kinda little half steps then walk and so on and so forth and Judy comes down and is like wow you really kept her engaged didn't even recognize you two.  (that put a giant smile on my face).

It just gets even better from here. Judy proceeds to read 3rd Level Test 1 to me and I say okay I got it.  And then I did.  I rode the entire 3rd Level test on Bella.  What?!  Bella, my girl who I never thought would make it past first level.  Bella who keeps telling me that she can do more.  Bella the horse who has a great work ethic but is also highly opinionated.  She makes me so proud.  She makes my heart happy.  Even if I never enter the show ring at 3rd level it was such a joy to ride it today and feel connected with my horse.  It was a joy to feel my horse give me her all.  So Bella I will never doubt you again. I will allow you to show me what you think you are capable of and I will also believe you when you tell me you have done enough.  It is a partnership and one that I cherish.

Wednesday was all about love!

Started the day off with a this great scripture verse and I think it set the tone for the rest of my day.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, Love Never Fails.

I Corinthians 13:7

This Wednesday just turned out to truly be an amazing day.  So let me take you through it for a bit.  On week 2 day 3 of 22 Minute Hard Corp and I really want to stay committed to doing this program so even though I had a pretty active day ahead of me I still got up and pressed play because I mean come on I can do it for 22 minutes.  Did Resistance 1 today and I do like this workout until the very end when you have to do the bonus round of fast feet, burpee, pushups!  Did it and felt pretty good afterwards. 

Then it was on to the barn for a lesson on Bella with Judy Whyte.  Needless to say we had a super awesome lesson and even went through a 3rd level test for the first time but I'm going to give Bella a post all to herself so I'll go into detail there.  But I was incredibly proud of my Bella for doing a test in a level that I never thought she would be able to.  Hard work has paid off there.

Then it was time for my personal training at Trinity Fitness with one of my favorite people my personal trainer Dona Batten.  I had a new workout today and was excited to see what was in store for me.  (the setup for my personal training is that I get a new program every month and build on it for the month)  I made a little video of some of my favorite moves today.  But I loved this workout and will be looking forward to doing it for the next 4 weeks!

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Harmony Between Horse and Rider

I read a lovely interview with one of the top dressage trainers in Great Britain, well actually the world.  And everything that I read made sense and I felt that I could apply it to my riding even though I'm not riding at the level of the horses and riders that they were discussing. So with that thought in my mind and went to the barn and proceeded to have a wonderful lesson on Bella with my trainer Judy Whyte.

Before we even started the lesson I was walking on a loose rein and telling Judy about the interview and she laughs because she had just read it that morning.  Well, that's good because I knew that everything that we both read was correct and that it would play a part in my lesson.  If you've been reading my blog you'd know that Bella and I have recently been going through a little sticky patch.  She was being hormonal (we realized the dispenser on her drugs/hormones had broken and she had not been getting any for a few weeks). And when Bella is hormonal she can be very difficult (so can I for that matter).  Well about 2 weeks ago I had a horrible ride and it was during a lesson with Judy and she had me get off and she rode Bella through some of the tough parts.  Then Judy told me that I was over riding with my hands and using strength in the wrong way to control my horse.  So she gave me homework for the week.  I was not to use my hands but to use my seat.  My seat that I've been trying to develop these last 10 years.  My seat that should be one of my first aids not one of my last.  Well, I listened and I worked very hard to not over ride but to let my horse come to me.  To use soft re-balances and create a lighter horse in my lighter hands.  We have been doing that for about 2 weeks now and the results have been amazing.  (Bella is also back on her drugs/hormones, so that helps).

Now back to my lesson.  My warm up was going very good.  Soft bending lines, leg yielding, steady rhythm, relaxed horse but developing engagement.  And it just got better and better.  Judy wanted leg yields to shoulder ins to halts to rein backs back to trot and so on and so forth.  Then we moved onto the canter where we did shallow counter canter serpentines to changes of rein through the serpentine.  Then simple changes every 4-5 strides with a little leg yield before the new depart.  Wow it was just great.  I rode with feel and channeled the thoughts that I had from the article.  Bella was lighter and freer and just absolutely trying her hardest without getting super tense which would be her normal MO.

Now I couldn't have had that type of ride without having control over my own body.  Riding softer and lighter with less forceful strength doesn't mean that your not using your strength and conditioning it just means that your using it differently.  Instead of being forceful and trying to make Bella do what I want, now I ask her with subtle aids and praise her when she answers.  I help her by having control over my body first.  Being fit has not just benefited me but it has also benefited my horse.