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Dresseur

So, the show is over, Miro is taking a much deserved break, which means that the goals for the remainder of November (and December and January and on and on is to work on me). My coach is handing me her horse's reins for concentrated lessons on all things I-1 and above. We've dabbled here and there ...

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Thanks MC! It helps that he has a super, super brain. Re Gala, Andrea pulled her because she was such a good school master. (Clearly... she took care of my butt in the ring lol). And yes, I thought it interesting that the 4:1 test was so much better. I'll say that it really, really flows well, and i...

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Canter in the scary ring...

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And Gala...

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That's all - I promise I'm done taking over this thread

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2 more... AND... forgot to mention - first time out and he's qualified himself for CBLM's!

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His first halt on centerline!

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Yesterday, we traveled 2 hours to the show hosted by the PVDA at the Prince George's Equestrian Center. 3 horses made the trip: Gala, the veteran, Audaz, another veteran who belongs to my coach's barn manager, and Miro, the baby. No one made a peep all day, except for Miro, who was thoroughly bored ...

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Agreed Flight, lovely!

Meanwhile, we had a bit of fun - I really do own a unicorn!

Poor buddy.

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So heartbreaking to read this. Hugs

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I'm not allowed to have a reader.... whaaaaaa.... Actually, when I have a reader, I stop riding for some reason - I concentrate only on what the reader is saying, so, it's better for me to try to remember and make an error rather than ride an accurate test that is shit because I turn into a lump. Su...

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It's fun to hear how they keep you on your toes! Based on the last ride, I'm confident that I handled the situation correctly. He looked a bit at the new drag lines and then went happily about his business. He's the type of horse that will turn things into a game very quickly, so deciding when to ig...

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Today is a year to the day that I bought Miro. I'm still so smitten with him. I've learned more about him in the past 2 weeks since I've cut the longing out of riding than I have in the past several months, he's graduating to being a riding horse (still taking it easy, very short sessions, lots of h...

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Flight, I can see the improvement!! Good job, and I love the posture that your horse is taking- looks light and up in a good way. And with the bucking changes, I'm sure others will have advice as well, but when I was working through Willie's bucking changes, I found a lot of success in doing a Demi ...

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I've thought for a while now that Miro was a bit "funny" about footing changes, but today I got to experience this quirk in all its glory. He's balked at lines in the footing before, but has always gone after a very brief discussion and then been fine. Today, I was riding him, and it start...

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I LOVE seeing pictures of the old girl. She'll always be Sneakers to me

Beccot is so high-falut'n - although, she IS a diva.

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I'm lucky enough to have decent hills and I also really, really feel the difference when I go back into the ring. I let Miro pick his way through by himself so that he finds the best way to carry himself. Chisamba, I also agree that a higher posture allows for more site - but I think in your particu...

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Since I usually post stills, here's two very short snippets of my flu-y self trying to ride

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v1etNYBIJmc
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LSIvue_rtjY

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Khall, yes, I did a high trace on him, although you can barely tell already. He's one shaggy beast!
He spends A LOT of time outside, so I don't feel as though I can give him a full clip, I'm not into over blanketing or keeping them in, so I like to leave as much hair as possible.

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Congrats Rosie, and glad to see you back in the saddle!! Miro and I are having fun! We've dispensed with the longeing (it was only a formality at this point anyway) and I'm liking the feel so much better without it. We've still been having some saddle fit issues- the back is still lifting a bit even...

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Oh no... $&@?'s about to get real! Miro is getting entered into his first show Nov 5th. End of season so will be very quiet, and there will be plenty of ground help. Doing easy peasy classes just to see how he is, will scratch if necessary. I guess this makes my goals be 1. Tame his mane, 2. Hav...

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yes, her scores held pretty steady and because she is SO green to the level -to do everything quietly and happily with zero meltdowns, AND to qualify for the I-1 MFS?! What a good girl. And her owner is super - no pressure to perform. Everything was about making sure that she was happy and willing. ...

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I don't mind having very good scores for good movements and transitions and very bad scores for bad movements. What I object to are blown movements still getting 7's. That should be a 1 or a 2. For some pairs, it was. For others - mainly BNT and BNR, it wasn't. And, I do wish that harmony and purity...

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. I also think that some horses are so well trained that they will perform the movements no matter what.. Not true. Individual movements perhaps, a whole test with all the preparation and timing. NO. Reiner Klimke was a pretty good example of a less exemplary position producing a very capable ride ...

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Yes, the bias was very evident. But, it was two-fold - and mainly had to do with who the riders were. For the less BNT and BNR, I will say that I was happy to see the more relaxed rides get rewarded. Friesians seem to do okay because they do have a lot of flash and suspension. Also, Mary Alice Malon...

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Kande, this is a good description of absolute elevation. http://www.sustainabledressage.net/collection/false_collection.php#relative It has to do with the neck being raised without the lowering of the croup and subsequent weight bearing of the hind. Basically, the outline is the short, high neck and...

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MC- I think that horses can go well even with faulty positions IF the timing and feel are there. My guess is that in your case it absolutely is. I also think that some horses are so well trained that they will perform the movements no matter what. I DO NOT think that you have to be perfect in positi...

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It's kind of sad in some ways in that a lot of the prestige feels gone. With the addition of the I-1 A and B classes and all the splitting of classes, almost no one was in the GP (although, that could also have been because of Rio). It felt like just another horse show. But, even the awards ceremoni...

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Hmm. I agree that PRE's and Lusitano's are inherently able to sit. However, with all of these "purpose bred" warmbloods, they should also have the ability to sit, especially if they are making it up to PSG, I-1 and GP. Unless we're saying that the purpose breeding is only about the flingin...

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I just spent an intense 4 days grooming for my coach at Dressage at Devon. She shows lean and mean, no frills, so we shared a lot of the workload. But, keeping a gray clean is a minor miracle, especially in the CDI barns - they're a hot mess! She showed PSG, I-1 and then qualified for the I-1 freest...

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Thank you, Kande.
I actually have scoliosis and the more I work on my position and making my muscles even, the less pain I have. I wish I had been this focused years ago

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And one of of my favorite pics...

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Lol, ok, here are pics taken over the end of Aug and through Sept.

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I haven't checked in for a bit, work got stupid crazy and riding had to take a back seat. What we've been doing is the "boring" work, which I find pretty fascinating. The biggest aha was when I realized that the bit of stiffness on the left rein was actually his haunches slipping out, so a...

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Definitely rushed. The transition all kind of blended together. So, you did maybe 2 clear walk steps and then it got muddy into the trot. Slow it down. Clear trot to walk, count it out and then prompt trot.

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Assuming that every repetition is performed correctly...

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You look like a super pair and you are doing a good job of keeping her straight! Regarding your question of unevenness... I'd check your stirrup leathers to make sure that they are even... it seems as though either your right stirrup is shorter, or you may be drawing your leg up on that side (pushin...

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Miro and I are have been hitting the trails quite a bit, the weather has been really lovely. There is a "course" around the one hay field that our cross country riders use for their galloping circuits. We've been having long walks and short trots up the hills. There is even a cow field by ...

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Trying for a few steps of medium on a circle seems to help those horses that struggle because the outside of the horse has to travel further (more reach) than the inside if the horse is straight on the circle. So, while harder to ride, the circle can help horses access that movement a bit easier.

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I had one - she was a pistol, and a bit claustrophic. Needed to be in a program, and my work was out of control in terms of hours. Plus, I ride alone 90% of the time, so I felt unsafe. What I did was in hand work and I also ramped up the longing so that I was spending less time in the saddle. I also...

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The training trajectory that I've witnessed over the past several years (again - this is a generalization and not every horse follows this) is that they make progress very quickly from being backed to 2nd level. Then, the single changes get introduced. This can take a few months, this can take year....

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I will add to the above by saying that training goes much, much faster when you have a rider that is so clear in the aids and knows exactly what feel they are going for. Each horse there is treated as an individual, some horses take longer then others. But overall, most of their horses progress to f...

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Hi Demi! I can actually speak to those horses as I have been a student of theirs for about 10 years now and saw each of those horses as foals and have watched their training. They are actually 9 years old :) Kara - the most opinionated of the group became a fantastic school master for them at the sa...

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In other news. I need a new saddle. Sigh. The young man has grown, and my MW tree is not cutting it. Time for a wide. I'm borrowing one now, and he goes beautifully in it, so, the hunt is on.

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Khall, regarding that quote, I didn't mean to imply that you or I or anyone advocates doing that, I was exaggerating to make my point, sorry if it came across as other. Lightness and self carriage is what I want, and I think that you can look at all of the pics that I've posted and see that no one i...

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And then there's this: http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?498056-Colleen-Kelly-Is-Suing-Adelinde-Over-Parzival-quot-Abuse-quot-in-Rio I read the post, I looked at the evidence. IMO, she and her team chose to withhold treatment in order to keep the horse legal to compete. Is the most ab...

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Brydie, so happy that you are feeling improvements! Keep it up!

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Khall sure, I'll answer that, I was actually talking to Chisamba about this earlier. For the counter canter, I'm mostly doing shallow loops, and not really in a collected state. We have a HUGE ring, so when I say that I'm doing a full single loop - it's huge - I'm not asking any more of him in those...

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Tuddy. I hope that none of this comes off as rude - I assure you that none of what I'm about to write is meant to be taken that way. I get the sense from your posts that you are possibly not enough of a leader for Tuddy at this point. You have a deep emotional attachment to him, and I can understand...

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I think I'm too easy on him. I used to create energy but "let it escape" out the front. My instrcutor always says don't let it out in front! I feel if I pushed my hands forward he would just become long as that's the way he'd rather be. My shoulders are my most hated position flaw :( ugh ...

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Brydie, I do think that a more generous judge would have given higher marks. That being said... I can see what the judge is calling irregularity on that second test. I think that it's more him bumping the bridle a bit and it showing in the gait- it's a symptom of lack of throughness. I liked the ene...

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Again, no fracture in Parzi, that was a show jumper. The media mixed it up and people are running with it.

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Thanks Demi :) That's exactly why I keep pushing and tweaking my position- to make things as clear as they can be for him. Right now, I have the right angles in the trot and I'm pretty happy with things- (not saying that there's nothing to fix, because there absolutely is!), in the canter I still ha...

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