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Annica's Lesson Journal

3/14/2006 - Tuesday, 10 am

Worked in outdoor arena, with new English child's saddle and bridle
Walked to get re-familiarized with horse (spent two weeks in New Orleans)
Posting trot, did an excellent job with diagonals, recognizing correct/incorrectness
Did well on sitting trot but needs to flow with the horse more
Cantered for the first time in a while...at first bounced a lot and couldn't' find the rhythm, but after a couple of rounds found a good place and followed the horse's gait very well.
Worked on jumping crossrails...did very well both trotting and cantering, looking over the jumps and keeping heels down
Witnessed first run-out and recovered well, circling back to go over the jump without giving horse time to think about it
Good job, Annica. You'll be showing in no time!!

2/7/2006 - Tuesday, 10AM

Rode in outdoor arena, using small English saddle for the first time
Rode without a martingale; tacked up without help
Learned about showing - etiquette, no talking in ring, lineup, fidgeting, etc.
"Warmed up" in "schooling ring" at a walk and trot, working on posting on correct diagonal and maintaining a steady trot, and keeping Prissy standing still when she's supposed to, turning at the walk and trot
Performed in a mock class, with lineup, walking, trotting, reverse, walking, trotting, lineup, back up
Practiced quick rider changes with Maggie

1/19/2006 - Thursday, 10AM

Rode outdoors, English saddle/bridle with martingale, outdoor arena
Walked over poles and crossrail jumps, staying to the middle and focusing ahead of the jumps instead of on the jumps themselves
Learned show rules....what's expected, what the judges are looking for, etc.
Worked on posting trot a lot
Posting trot to the right excellent, with good posture and leg position, although posting to the trot in the other direction tends to upset the leg balance and throw balance forward
Needs to work on keeping hands off saddle and using body to balance instead of the saddle or reins
Did an excellent job keeping Prissy going steadily, although with trouble a couple of times with transitions
Needs to sit before asking for a walk to keep from getting thrown forward upon transitions
Walked and trotted over jumps; worked on keeping circles between the two small and precise, without running out and staying straight in the middle
Learned the aids and cues for riding
Excellent focus...improving every time!!

11/10/2005 - Thursday, 9AM

Rode outdoors, English saddle/bridle with martingale
Did an excellent job focusing - tacked up entirely on own! Even got bridle on correctly!!
Mounted alone, without a mounting block, and learned to adjust stirrups from saddle
Warmed up at the walk, worked on standing/sitting, counting steps, and walk/halt/back combos
Wonderful job during sitting trot! Stayed in the saddle very well with a minimum of bouncing
Worked on circling at the walk, through cones set up at spiraling larger/smaller circles
Small circles were nice and round, but the larger they got, the more lopsided they got
Posting was pretty good, but tending to push off the stirrups more than using the upper leg
Trotted without stirrups and posted without stirrups to help with balance and alignment at the posting trot
Excellent job overall, and good sitting! Very steady, secure seat!

11/3/2005 - Thursday, 10AM

Rode outdoors, rode second, English saddle/bridle with martingale
Warmed up at the walk, doing circles and figure eights and standing
Practiced dropping/picking up stirrups
Practiced sitting trot - seat SO much better than 2 months ago!! Steady and not flopping all around in the saddle
Learned to count steps and feel which foot is stepping, without looking and with eyes closed
Practiced rising trot without stirrups, and lots of figure eights, stopping, and counting backing steps
Good work, Annica!!

10/20/2005 - Thursday, 10AM

Rode in round pen, in an English saddle, without a martingale
Adapted well to standing in the stirrups, had no problem keeping heels down, but couldn't stay up long standing at first
Developed the movement needed to stand at the walk, and was able to remain standing nearly as long as I asked
Did an excellent job at the sitting trot - nowhere near as much bouncing as before, due to learning to move with the horse
Good job, Annica! Keep up the good work and you can be top-notch some day!!

10/13/2005 - Thursday, 9AM

Rode using a bareback pad for the first time
Adapted to the balancing very quickly and didn't do a whole lot of bouncing around at the trot
Did very well navigating cones, but had trouble knocking them over with the whip
Did pretty well the entire lesson - started out bouncing up and down, but picked up on the "moving with the horse" bit rather fast
Still needs improving, but then, don't we all?
Keep up the good work, Annica!

9/22/2005 - Thursday, 9AM

Skipped a week because of Prissy's lost shoes
Played basketball, walking and trotting to throw balls in buckets and catch them while on horseback
Worked on picking up the correct diagonal, and cantering immediately from a walk
Did really well collecting the cones from the fence and dropping them in the bucket
Had a more difficult time dropping cones onto other cones on the ground - trouble lining the horse up right
Knocked over 14 cones using the horse!!
Yay, Annica!!

9/8/2005 - Thursday, 10AM

Worked in new arena for the first time
Very good posting trot, picked up diagonals nearly every time correctly
Did well on the uneven/rough terrain and kept Prissy between the cones and the fence most of the time
Learned how to count how many steps to back up, and when to release so too many steps aren't taken
Worked on walk/halt combos as well as walk/halt/back combos, counting anywhere from one step back to six steps back
Cantered in round pen; sitting the canter better and keeping a constant, consistent canter without breaking gait.
Congrats, Annica!