It Takes A Lot Of Steps...But Sometimes, 4 or even 3 At A Time!
What shall I say? We rode our first 3 tempis yesterday! Just practiced the 4 tempis 3 times over the last two weeks and guess what? When I asked for 3 tempis yesterday, we sort of showed them! Counting is the biggest problem and I was behind with my aids twice but I guess he would have shown clean 3 tempis when I hadn't been the problem.
It was just at the beginning of this week when I checked how long I had been in this barn already. To me it felt like three years, but actually, it was only two. So in June 2015, we decided to move to my trainer's barn. It is farther away from my apartment, it does cost more than the previous one. But what we got in return was not only one of the most beautiful places that you can imagine, both for horse and rider, but also the most inspiring, supporting and encouraging surroundings for growing as a rider. I wrote some time ago, that you need to surround yourself with the dreamers and doers. And how important it is to have like-minded people around you. This is what I have here and riding such an upper level movement yesterday made it clear to me that you would not be able to go beyond yourself.
So far, show season was not that promising. It seemed that we made some progress but that the judges became stricter or whatever because our marks seemed to drop below last year's. I learned that most of it was due to missing harmony and I really worked hard and again, changed a lot in the way we train and in the way we work. I also talked about riding in circles for weeks and weeks and I really thought that we might not be able to catch up this year.
But like all the good things in life, it takes time. Hafl surely got used to the difference in training and soon realized that this way was much easier and comfier for him. And eventually, he grew stronger. We are of course not where we need to be yet, but now I am back to hoping that we can make it to fouth level/FEI Young Rider classes next season.
When watching him doing the tempi changes, I think he looks pretty proud of himself: the tiny, short legged big belly Haflinger with his gorgeous curly tail (everybody is envious about that I can tell you) that wasn't originally designed for dressage. Two years ago in March, when we decided to switch to our current trainer, he was not even firm on second level even though I was showing at an even higher level. In a little more than two years, he is now in the position to show me 3 tempis and making them so much fun! What's more, he is giving his best to show some elevation and self-carriage in the trot which sometimes feel like riding a Grand Prix pony... can't wait where this journey will eventually lead us. But I am so happy about what happened yesterday that everything is just the icing on the cake...
And to make sure that the world believes me, here are some videos on the 4 tempis (they were actually pretty good), the first time 3 tempis (with counting mistakes from my side) and our fancy trot...
It was just at the beginning of this week when I checked how long I had been in this barn already. To me it felt like three years, but actually, it was only two. So in June 2015, we decided to move to my trainer's barn. It is farther away from my apartment, it does cost more than the previous one. But what we got in return was not only one of the most beautiful places that you can imagine, both for horse and rider, but also the most inspiring, supporting and encouraging surroundings for growing as a rider. I wrote some time ago, that you need to surround yourself with the dreamers and doers. And how important it is to have like-minded people around you. This is what I have here and riding such an upper level movement yesterday made it clear to me that you would not be able to go beyond yourself.
So far, show season was not that promising. It seemed that we made some progress but that the judges became stricter or whatever because our marks seemed to drop below last year's. I learned that most of it was due to missing harmony and I really worked hard and again, changed a lot in the way we train and in the way we work. I also talked about riding in circles for weeks and weeks and I really thought that we might not be able to catch up this year.
But like all the good things in life, it takes time. Hafl surely got used to the difference in training and soon realized that this way was much easier and comfier for him. And eventually, he grew stronger. We are of course not where we need to be yet, but now I am back to hoping that we can make it to fouth level/FEI Young Rider classes next season.
When watching him doing the tempi changes, I think he looks pretty proud of himself: the tiny, short legged big belly Haflinger with his gorgeous curly tail (everybody is envious about that I can tell you) that wasn't originally designed for dressage. Two years ago in March, when we decided to switch to our current trainer, he was not even firm on second level even though I was showing at an even higher level. In a little more than two years, he is now in the position to show me 3 tempis and making them so much fun! What's more, he is giving his best to show some elevation and self-carriage in the trot which sometimes feel like riding a Grand Prix pony... can't wait where this journey will eventually lead us. But I am so happy about what happened yesterday that everything is just the icing on the cake...
And to make sure that the world believes me, here are some videos on the 4 tempis (they were actually pretty good), the first time 3 tempis (with counting mistakes from my side) and our fancy trot...
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