Dressage Lesson #27

Now that it's finally winter it's hard to make it out to the barn. Between the cold weather and the snow storms every weekend, I've been hiding out a bit more. In the end I don't think Cody and Axel mind the break too much. We did make it out last night for a lesson though. I thought we might even get to ride in the daylight atleast for part of the lesson but Tricia fell asleep on her couch so she made it out a little later than normal.

Axel's looking like a big black teddy bear these days. I don't recall him getting quite this fuzzy last year. I could be mistaken though. All that hair makes it so when I tighten up the girth, I still have to go up 3-4 more holes after I get on. I think we're getting almost to a breakthrough here. It seems Axel much prefers the whip to the leg. I think he gets a little confused with the constant kicking. But when I had a whip in my last lesson, he did so well and wasn't cranky at all. Last night he was mildly cranky when asked to extend. I can't say I helped matters at all. Working in the round pen is a little annoying for me. I always feel like I'm too close to the fence, and I usually am. I really don't want to loose a knee. So then I compensate and get all crooked and it can't be easy for Axel to drag me around like that. We haven't been working on any collection pretty much this whole winter. I think we're just concentrating on moving out, relaxing, and responding when I ask for something. I'm sure I could be more clear in my aids and that would help Axel a lot, something I really need to work on. I'm really looking forward to daylight riding and getting out of the round pen.

We worked back and forth in both directions several times, starting with some smaller loops to get him limbered up a bit. Tricia thought he looked a little stiff. After he loosened up to both sides we just worked on trotting. Extending and then relaxing. Threw in a few ground poles to get Axel to pick up his feet more. Usually he just tripped over the poles, once even stepping right on the pole. Grand Prix Jumping - here we come! *snort* We worked a little on transitions and responding right away. Boy he's good at the trot to halt. Not so good at halt to trot. And I'm getting better at trot to walk myself.

We've had 27 lessons so far (yes I counted). It's hard to see our accomplishments when you're so close to it all the time. Stephanie said his mouth is much softer now last time she rode him. I don't have kick the whole time any more. His free walk has improved (when I'm not riding). He's a lot more willing to keep trotting once he gets going. I never thought I'd be able to practice posting the trot with him because he kept stopping constantly, but that's so much better now. I don't know if we'll ever be ready for the schooling show in August but we'll sure give it our best shot. Too bad they didn't see him before we started working, then I'd win for sure.

Still planning on getting the dentist and hopefully a chiropractor out this spring for both Cody and Axel. Cody needs an attitude adjustment and Axel could maybe benefit from some chiropractic work to help loosen him up a bit.