What are you working on?

Decided to lose my stirrups today. Geez why haven't I been doing it more regularly!!
SO much more effectiveness of my seat, trot work was 200% better and was offering passage steps every time I rode medium - collected trot transitions.
And WOW the lateral work, shoulder in so free and loose, half pass with beautiful bend and freedom of the shoulder on both reins.
Looks like I'll be ditching my stirrups for a few more rides!!
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Gee I was thinking of doing that too! My horse has a lovely swinging jog and I could sit to it forever, but want to sit to it BETTER!! However I just moved him to his new barn that has winter TURN OUT!! (do I hear angels singing??)

So I'm going to keep my stirrups for now unless I favor hitting the dirt!!

Ps. We've both got really good at haunches in now;)

I had this problem too! I got a myler bit and it did help, but it was still a lot of work. Just remember to keep asking (gently though, don't want to rip your horse's face off). Don't worry, with gentle encouragement, she'll figure it out on her own. It just takes time and patience. Good luck, though! :)


I'm working on getting my horse to bend; he used to be at a summer camp and the kids who rode him balanced on his mouth - in turn he doesn't even know what bending is (poor guy). For myself, I'm working on keeping my legs as still as possible by "rolling to the knee" - this is what my lesson teacher/barn owner calls it. So far, I've made a lot of improvements. :)

I took my big WB to an Actual Dressage lesson (my first in years) we had been taking kind of generic hunt seat type lessons at a local barn. The Dutch barn (several hours away) trainer LOVED my boy. Helped me with changing the horses tempo with my posting and W/T/W transitions via seat only. It was AWESOME !! She said my boy can take me as far as I want to go in Dressage.
I'm ADDICTED lol

I've brought my gelding back from his injury last year and he's been back in full time work since last September! I'm going to be showing third level this year and will hopefully be attending our first schooling show in April (maybe March) and our very first recognized show ever in May. We rode through third level test 1 this morning in a lesson and got through it without any major boo-boos, minus botching the changes which we later fixed, and just needed a bit more "oomph" in the trot work. I'm okay with it being a little lazy right now because I've finally got him relaxed and rhythmical in his trot after a couple weeks of him being stressed out and tight...I'll push for more energy in time as I know he's got lots of trot in him.

A couple lessons ago we started working on baby pirouette work, basically 1/4 pirouettes in a square shape, and also starting the idea of tempi changes on a loop: one on the first quarter line, continue the loop and then another change on the second quarter line of the loop. I'm so excited with how well he's coming!!

I am not working on anything right now as we are still under 2' of snow, but here is my list for when the snow melts.

- start dressage lessons again with my Arab gelding to prepare him for a few small local fun shows this summer
- prepare my pony cross for sport pony inspections in August
- get the pony out on the trail and to as many different venues as possible
- keep my 22 year old man draft cross fit through regular trail riding

- not riding, but horse related- we are building a barn this spring!

Oof! This is looking like a daunting list! Thank goodness I'm off for the summer.

Im taking lessons on a huge lazy 22yr. Old dressage horse who has done nothing but dressage his whole life and was shown to the Grand Prix St. George level and has a brand on him from Holland. At first he was very easy to ride and I thought maybe I could show him at second level by this summer. Now he just doesn't go forward once I get done warming him up and start actually asking him to collect a little more. My last lesson was so bad I feel like I just want to lease and stop taking lessons. I finally got through to the horse towards the end when I rode away from my instructor and used the other half of the ring. By that time the horse was exhausted. My instructor rides at fourth level so I don't think I should stop taking lessons with her but I wish she wouldn't chase the horse with a lunge whip. He stops paying attention to me and comes off the bit when she does it. Then he stops listening to my lateral aids as well. I feel like I just need to slow down and ask for a lateral response at the walk and then get him moving forward and more balanced before asking for a canter transition. Sometimes I have him balanced and forward but when I ask him to canter he just keeps trotting at the same pace with absolutely no reaction until I hit him behind my inside leg with the whip. At the trot he likes to move up and down and behind the bit instead of forward. Usually I can get him out of it but lately he's been ignoreing my legs and my spurs. If I poke him behind his elbow with my toe he moves but Im afraid soon that won't work either. A few times I hit him with the whip on his butt but he kicked out instead of going forward. Actually he usually doesn't tolerate being hit with the whip anywhere but his inside flank. He hates being hit with the whip from the outside and just kicks out. He's has huge legs and made a hole in the side of the indoor (not while I was riding him) from kicking out next to the wall. He usually does it next to the wall so I think he likes destroying the walls.

Sounds to me like the horse has got your number!
If he's trained to Prix St. Georg (no Grand in front of that), then he's just being clever and knows how to get away with not putting in effort.
There is no point in worrying about having him on the bit or moving laterally if he's not going forward. If you can't get him forward, I'd chase him with a lunge whip too! I recently rode with a German based Olympic and WEG rider, who actually picked up a dressage whip and through it hard the the hindquarters of a horse that the rider was not sending forward. It just gave that 'wake up' sensation to the rider who then was able to send the horse forward.

Another thing to consider is that you're not gripping anywhere or relying on your reins. A well trained Drssage horse mirrors the rider. Any problems that you have show up very quickly on an educated horse - hence they are not as 'easy' as some think.

Keep working at it, not many people get the chance to ride a horse of that training, and once you figure out how to press the right buttons you will be rewards for it.
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Heh. The question is what am I NOT working on ;)

Well... lets start with my handsome pony. We have recently begun to work on turns on the haunches as our "new" thing. We trot a lot, so that isn't really anything new, however, I've succeeded in slowing his big, high-stepping trot to something more "sitable"... now, I need to work on getting him to move out again. We've got to find a happy-medium in there somewhere, and I'm quite certain that a crop is going to make all the difference in the world ;)

Myself? I need a better seat and more "loose" arms. I have these stumpy little arms that, when I watch videos of myself riding, appear locked in position. I swear, when I'm riding I'm making a conscious effort (that I FEEL!) to open my shoulder/elbow and allow it to swing forward freely, following my horse's motion. I look at myself riding, and I don't see it. It's like I completely imagined the whole thing while I was riding and it NEVER happened. I've also found myself pitching forward the more I trot. I need to develop a better core, which will help my seat tremendously. I start out okay usually... but as I post along, my lower back becomes fatigued and my whole body pitches forward :P Blech.

I know my horse would be such a spectacular Dressage pony if he had my trainer or one of her assistants as his rider - his willingness and their expertise would be a dream. Ahhh... alas, I have much greatness that I aspire to ;) Together, we are learning. Sometimes, it is 3 steps forward two steps back, then out of the blue we have a 3 step forward, no step backward day, and those are the days I strive for!

At the trot I do get him moving forward and I can do lateral work. But when it comes to canter transtions he definitely has my number. I can do a canter transition on any other horse but when I give him the aids (while he's moving forward) he just waits until I hit him with the whip on my inside leg. Then I end up going around with my outside leg back and pressing with my inside while trying to keep him going and not let him hollow his back. So everything falls apart and I end up getting chased by my instructor with the lunge whip. He's so lazy, he doesn't even really care about the lunge whip. He just pins his ears. Then after he gets a break after FINALLY cantering, he thinks he's done and picks up an up-and-down passage like trot instead of going forward. I can get him out of it myself but my instructor actually makes it harder by chasing him. She says I prefer one side (of my body, not one direction) and that my bad side is the horse's bad side too. So when I switch direction everything gets harder. I guess I need to start riding in my bad direction more to work on my bad side.