I’ve had a really nice break between shows for my horses, and it’s time to get back on the ol’ bandwagon—training movements and figures, instead of just doing bodywork. Aw man. What a drag.

I really love the training, of course, but I like the downtime, too. Fender’s been super, getting stronger, finding better carriage. Midge is slowly finding this whole ‘nother gear in the trot, one that is floaty instead of just fancy legs. Ella’s been a little tough since the Schumacher clinic, but being able to focus on just the contact or just the back has been easier than trying to incorporate movements and precision work as well.

To jump-start the two weeks I have until the show, I called upon my new friend Pati Pierucci, a trainer in the Charlottesville area. First, those who don’t know Pati need to know that she’s awesome. Like, AWESOME. She is SO funny, and SO genuine, and SO real. It should also be said that the two of us can’t hang out in public, because we’re REALLY, REALLY LOUD. So yesterday’s lessons were really a lot more like stand-up comedy and less like Big Time Serious Dressage Lessons.

That’s not to say, however, that she wasn’t HUGELY helpful. My difficulty with Ella has been in the contact—for as long as I’ve known her, she’s had sort of a stale mouth, not dead like lacking sensitivity, just hard to activate and keep pliable. Ditto her poll. And when I raise the stakes, like with the longer periods of collection I’ve been doing, the connection is the first thing to go. I’ve been trapped in a holding pattern: She shuts down in front, and I try and break through it by adding more pressure, which shuts her down more… etc.

Pati had a great leg-yield exercise at canter—leg-yielding really sideways until she has no choice but to trot into a really light, fluffy contact. It broke up the pattern enough that I could get access to Ella’s body again and do the work I know how to do, playing with her balance left and right until she stays with me. Awesome.

With Fender, I’m showing the 4-Year-Old tests for the first time, and I really wanted someone on the ground to say, “Yes, that’s the trot for the ring,” or “No, that’s a little too low in the neck/high in the neck/fast/slow/whatever.” In training, I want Fender to be adjustable, to be able to put him anywhere, but for the show I want the trot that shows off his gaits best (not flashy, flashy, just the most supple, through, uphill, balanced, whatever) for where he is in his training. Pati had me ride him more open for the purposes of the test, and we talked about him being in front of my leg versus in front of me—he’s an easy horse to chase around because he always feels a little slow. He’s not, he just isn’t strong enough to really step up and take me in the trot yet. That was really helpful feedback.

Midge is feeling amazing, so Pati didn’t have a whole lot to say about him, other than that he’s a superstar, and I should never sell him. Yay! I’m still trying to help make him more comfortable with more bend, which is SO hard when you’re a very short-coupled horsie, but he’s making progress. And oh, the passage. Love love love. Pati did help me with his changes—one is quite reliable, but the other always feels like he’s stepping sideways a little. She had me sit lighter in that change to let the hind leg jump clearer. Bingo.

What was the most helpful of everything was the focus on my position. I suffer from Rides By Oneself Itis, a common affliction, and sometimes in the training it’s easy to get busy in your body trying to GitErDone. Pati told me, to paraphrase, to sit down and shut up and stay out of the damn way, which I really needed to hear.

And there was absolutely no fun had. No, none at all. Very serious times.