Clear signals

So, Lilly is back in work, day 2, and I decide to iron out the problems we had yesterday. Mainly we had one problem - she was not relaxed in the trot. But that's probably a slightly simplified view. My experience in trot was that she was rushing off, running out to one side, and throwing her head in the air. That sounds to me like she was trying out random behaviours. And, when does a horse try random behaviours? When they do not understand what in the world you are asking, and their normal responses are not causing the rider's pressure to go away!

Hmm ... food for thought there. I was putting some sort of pressure on Lilly when asking her to trot, and then, once she was trotting, I wasn't taking this pressure away. Wonder what it could be?

Well, as you go into trot you squeeze with your legs, and in order to keep your legs still, and yourself in the sweet spot, you need to retain some rigidity in your legs. So I figured I was about right there.

Also, Lilly wasn't exactly complaining about my legs, but she was throwing her head up in the air. Was I holding her back with my hands perhaps? No, really? But she was also rushing off! How am I supposed to tell her to slow down and not rush off if not with my reins?

I went back to walk and had a bit of a think about it. And then it dawned on me. Of course, Catherine had told me to control the horse's rythm through my rising, and it worked really well on Lil.

So I went forwards into trot with just the lightest contact on the reins, and a good squeeze with my legs. When Lilly went into trot, I just rose up and down at a tempo that I thought was appropriate. Lo and behold, Lilly lowered her head, chewed the bit, and trotted at the tempo I dictated. Magic!

At the end of the riding I jumped off and made a fuss of her, telling her what a good girl she is. I couldn't help but notice though a certain feeling of "I'm so glad you've finally worked it out" oozing out of the horse.