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Lindsey Saad (Region 2)

2015 Gifted Recipient

When I found out that I was a recipient of the Gifted Grant from Region 2, I knew that it was coming at the perfect time to help me solidify my Fourth Level work with Gadget. I decided to work with Kristin Stein in Akron, Ohio, who has helped me with Gadget for the last five years. I bought Gadget as a green-broke 5-year -old and we have moved up the levels together, learning as we go. He’s now 13-years -old and we are attempting to master Fourth Level. Just like many amateurs, I do most of my schooling on my own and get about two lessons in a clinic about once every 6-8 weeks. The opportunity to have eight lessons in the course of a month sounded like just the boost I needed. During my lessons, I kept a training journal, which I have included below:

 

Lesson 1 -

It feels appropriate that the first day of the new year is the first day of my Gifted scholarship adventure. I thought this balmy winter that we've been having was playing perfectly into my winter plans, but today, the high was 32 degrees with strong wind that made it much colder. But after adding a couple layers, I drove to Akron, Ohio for my first lesson.

I brought Gadget to Shade Tree Farm to train with Kristin Stein on Christmas Eve, so he has already had four rides with her. Even with only those four rides on him, I could feel a big difference in the quality of the canter he offered in his warm up. As Kristin says, I have gotten used to the feel of his canter being a hair away from four beat again. We want the canter to "roll" and to feel fluid because he uses his whole body. He's strong enough to really carry with power now, but I have to ask for it. And it's going to take time to get the expression all the time.

The theme of this lesson was POWER! Not just power, but keeping him UP. Kristin seemed excited about the power she had been tapping into for short spurts. She began calling Gadget's canter "beautiful," and we both laughed at the irony of the horse with world's worst canter a few years ago as now having a "beautiful" canter. It's really remarkable. In this lesson, it all boiled down to straightness (fixing my body, then his body), then not being afraid to hold the power. It's the feeling of a pot almost boiling over that makes the canter light and buoyant. 

I have also been struggling with the feeling of whether he is "up" and on the aids or whether he is just "up" and above the bit. So I have been inadvertently just throwing Gadget on his forehand in both the trot and canter. Kristin encouraged me to find the lightness in the contact for the trot and canter where Gadget carries himself and actually feels lighter on his front feet. Sometimes this doesn't feel round enough, but after watching the video, it is plenty round and looks lovely. We always work on making the hindend quicker, but in this lesson, we worked on not letting the front feet stay on the ground to long. This gives the hind legs someplace to step! The feeling was amazing- light, powerful, and Gadget felt proud! What an awesome start to this adventure!

 

Lesson 2 - 

Today, I talked to Kristin about my own confusion about how to use my body to ride the bigger trot I am getting. My body moves a lot in the saddle, and Kristin describes it as being too flexible through my spine. I told Kristin that I felt that I could stay quieter in the trot by snugging my thighs in the big trot, but it had the results of not getting the best trot from Gadget. She explained that instead of thinking of "thigh-master," I need to work on holding my body with my core. The position adjustments amounted to square shoulders, thumbs up, elbows in, sitting a bit more forward on my pelvis (this makes a huge difference), closing my thighs but not "squeezing" them, and thinking forward with the chest. Overall, I also just think of being more “still” in my upper body. All of this helps keep my position quieter, but it's hard! I was sore after this ride, but in a good way.

We worked on more control of the changes in this lesson. Gadget has lovely, quick changes, but he takes over in the tempis. Part of this is because I just release everything after the change. Kristin really pointed out how I lose the shoulder and that I need to be clearer. It took several attempts but finally I stopped over-bending and popping the outside shoulder and rode him straighter. Not surprisingly, it helped us maintain our nice tempo and collection after the series of changes, too.

The other big lesson here was to change the way I think about the canter transition and the change. I have become accustomed to letting Gadget push down or "dive" in both. Now, I am to think of making this an "upward" movement. So, this takes lots of preparation and thought on my part to encourage Gadget to sit and then ask him to stay up, up, up in the transitions and changes. We worked through this in walk/canter transitions first where the aids are easy. Finally, we started to use this in the changes and it took several tries before I could feel the right prep. In the last minute, I tend to just throw Gadget away in an attempt to not block him. Gadget was so good and tried his heart out in this portion of the lesson. After every good attempt, we walked and loudly praised him. Kristin said this is new for both of us, so we need to be sure to do this thoughtfully, use big rewards, and let Gadget have a little time to digest. She also said not to get upset if the changes get a little wonky while we ask for them to be more up- as always in the changes, things can get a little worse before they get better again. It was so reassuring to have her walk me through this. Big hugs, pats, and lots of treats for Gadget after this lesson.

 

Lesson 3 -

We planned to put the changes away for this lesson and work on some shoulder-in, haunches-in, and halfpass. However, as tends to happen with horses, Gadget gave us a bit of a surprise. Shade Tree Farm has an indoor arena that has trusses built for a church. It is a stunningly beautiful indoor, made even more wonderful by the large mirrors. 

It was so nice to use the mirrors in working the shoulder-in and haunches-in. Right away, Kristin said I was riding these movements better today. I could feel the playfulness needed to ask for power, tempo, up (what most probably call "self-carriage"), and bend in different combinations. It was awesome. After moving into the canter, Gadget was just a little stuck. Kristin encouraged me to really ask for some very forward strides, but Gadget was just a little stiff. Coming around the corner, I probably gave a bit more leg than Gadget appreciated, and he kicked out. Luck would have it that he kicked right through a mirror. Thank God, he didn't have a scratch on him and the tempered glass shattered, but stayed in place. 

After assuring Gadget was fine, I felt a bit embarrassed and told Gadget that this is why we can't have nice things. Seriously, who walks into a fabulous dressage facility and shatters the mirror?!  Kristin blocked off the area to make sure there were no safety concerns but said we needed to go back to work. This was a good mental exercise for me to let it go and move on. Gadget reminds most of a poky cow pony on the ground, but his Thoroughbred sensitivities come out when he is afraid. And he was terrified of the fractured pane of glass. We spent time walking circles edging closer to that end of the arena and then trotting with him long and low in circles. Finally, he began to regain some composure, so we went back to work.

We worked on shoulder-in down the long side, turn down centerline and halfpass. The key is for me to not let him get behind the leg. Instead of thinking of my inside leg as for bend, Kristin told me to think of it for power to carry him forward. It took several attempts, but the final result was truly beautiful. It was powerful AND flowing. It's so hard for me to get both. To the right, it got even harder. I overbend him this direction and get his shoulders stuck behind the motion. The key is to not only think of powering from my inside leg, but to actually turn MY shoulders and allow his shoulders to advance. It literally feels like it releases the hand break in the halfpass. 

In the canter halfpass, Gadget's anxiety started to shine through again. The ideas are the same to ride him united with power from my inside leg. However, we could see Gadget was feeling stressed about the mirror again and decided to end with some nice long and low to let him work through his fear. Although it wasn't the lesson I expected, it was a great lesson nonetheless. 

Aside from the riding, I also visited the amazing Big Dee's tack shop! It's huge and so impressive! I bought a beautiful caramel colored dressage whip and a dry-erase dressage arena to start memorizing 4-2. Looking forward to moving up! In addition to my shopping fun, Kristin took me to a fun lunch where I met several of her other students. Talking about dressage, sipping cocktails, and eating amazing food is the description of a perfect afternoon. Then we headed back to the barn to feed the horses supper. Because I board my horse, I am definitely not used to having this much time with Gadget and it's really enjoyable to spend a little extra time loving on him, adjusting his blankets, and making sure he was set for the evening. 

 

 

Lesson 4 - When A Difficult Lesson is the Lesson You Need

Gadget spent two weeks with Kristin riding him and she said she was so happy with his attitude to come out and give it his best every day. Even work that is hard for him, he would absolutely throw his heart into it. It feels great to work with a trainer that appreciates that quality in him and knows not to ask too much of him because of it.

POSITION -- RIGHT SHOULDER BACK

After 10 minutes walking, we warmed up in a forward rising trot. Right away Kristin made me accountable for my position. I twist to the left, so she really had me focus on taking my right shoulder back and loosening the left to come forward a bit. Because I twist my upper body left, I was told to focus on the right ear and “take my basket to the right.” If you imagine your hands are balancing a basket, you move both hands when you move your basket. Because of my crookedness, this can make a big difference for me.

 I also kept my reins short with my hands in front of my body (but not up) and staying on the front of my seat. After the loosening work, we decided to revisit the shoulder-in and half-pass. As Kristin said, once I learn to control the shoulders and keep myself and Gadget straight, the pirouettes, the halfpasses, and the tempi changes will all become easier.

I really struggled in this lesson, as I feel like I have had this lesson so many times, but my body sometimes just won't cooperate. It was the reminder and kick in the butt I needed during this lesson. We focused on getting a bend through the body in shoulder-in, then turning down centerline to halfpass back to the rail. To the left, I let him disconnect, let his haunches majorly trail, and let the trot lose its cadence. I could feel that it was wrong, but my body wasn't cooperating to make it right. To the right, I need to allow my body to turn more to the right, bend him around my knee/calf, and just keep the tempo. Easier said than done.

HALFPASS- BEND AROUND THE KNEE/CALF and LIFT TOWARD THE MOVEMENT

After a few failed attempts, Kristin quickly put me back into rising trot, which immediately resulted in a better connection. We then rode a few steps halfpass left to leg yield right. The leg yield showed me how I had his shoulders in the wrong position. Working through the issues in the leg yield showed me that I need to get Gadget to bend around my knee and calf (not my spur) and think of lifting my body and seatbone on the left to allow Gadget to step under. Kristin told me to imagine I am the upper level rider, which automatically adjusted my shoulders back and head and chest up. In halfpass, trainers often say to sit in the direction of the movement, but Kristin told me to lift my body in the direction of the movement. So I deepened my knee on the right leg that pushed the haunches, which allowed the inside seat bone to lift. I then had some lovely halfpasses. We then walked, talked about it, and quit on the good note. I went back to my hotel and really thought about my lesson. The luxury of this experience is to truly immerse yourself in dressage without the outside distractions. I was determined ride better in my lesson the next day.

 

Lesson 5 - HALFPASS AGAIN, Trot and Canter

In clinics, I tend to ride better the second day after having time to process all of the new info, and this felt like that scenario since I majorly felt disappointed in my riding the day before.

In the warm-up, I was really feeling the right shoulder and keeping it back, keeping my chest up, and riding with short reins and arms in front. Although I am fit, this takes work for me. After this lesson, I was sore all over from maintaining this position. And my right seat bone was majorly sore. It is shocking that I still have this much crookedness in my seat. The mirrors were critical in helping me realize that when I feel like I am too far to the right, I am actually straight. 

Right after our warm-up, we moved right into the halfpass work. This time to the left, I really rode with my inside leg asking for bend first, then bringing the haunches strongly. Kristin made me look over my shoulder to check the position of the haunches, so I'll have a frame of reference when I am at home without mirrors. It's a delicate balance to keep the bend, the haunches, and the connection. It really helped to think of letting Gadget step up and under my left seat bone and letting my right seat bone lower and sink into the right thigh.

The key for me and the halfpass is to keep my right shoulder back. That means to the right, I actually turn my body to the right and really look that direction and make sure to soften that left rein. It's amazing how he floats so powerfully over when I get it right. It is the most incredible feeling! Kristin was so excited when I got it right, which made these tough lessons so fun at the same time. To the left, I really keep my right shoulder back, soften that left rein and taking the haunches strongly and it all comes together. 

We did the same in the canter, but the focus is really getting the correct canter before the halfpass. The canter needs to have the same buoyancy as a horse that is taking you to a jump -- forward, uphill and active. Kristin reminds me that Gadget's left front likes to stay grounded too long, and that is typically what is happening when his front end feels heavier/slower than the hind end. For that, I cluck and give mini upward half halts. Sometimes, we just need to go forward to really re-establish his engine and then re-collect. If I have the right canter, the halfpasses in canter (combined with my correctly positioned shoulder!) are amazing! I have had a mental hang up with these movements, so to feel them be so effortless was so thrilling! It was also a relief after my bad ride the day before. I could take a deep breath and feel like I actually can ride these movements. Dressage is just as much a mental challenge as it is a physical one.

Overall, excellent weekend and just the kick in the butt I needed.

 

Lessons 6-8 – Finally Something Other Than Halfpass!

After spending the first five lessons on my position and getting control the correct bend and prep for the halfpass, I was worried that I would leave this wonderful experience without working on any of the other movements in Fourth Level. I can intellectually appreciate that there is no reason to school “movements” when horse or rider are crooked or still need to work on the quality of the gaits. With that being said, I still really wanted to actually get some lessons working on starting the pirouettes! I had played with the idea at home, but wanted someone to teach me the correct feel. Finally able to sit a bit more balanced (with great concentration) and able to actually ask for bend and forward while maintaining a soft connection, we moved on to making the canter smaller. The same feel in the halfpasses of getting him soft, collected, and bent around my inside leg, was a great set up for what would be needed in the pirouettes.  Kristin had been schooling Gadget and I was actually surprised how willing Gadget was to collect when I simply deepened my seat.  I could “breathe” with the contact in the reins to give small half-halts, but I could absolutely hold him on my seat – at least for a few strides. This will be a long work in progress, but it was exhilarating to feel for the first time!

From the tiny canter (probably appropriately called pirouette canter or working- toward-pirouette canter), I then cantered a small circle. This was harder. My instinct was to lean forward and to do too much with my hands and legs. If he was going to break, I was to let him make the mistake and correct it. Constantly niggling and nagging with my lower leg was strictly forbidden. Letting my legs be long and quiet while feeling Gadget stay active was such a great feeling. On the circle, I was to move his haunches in and then back out. My instinct again was to pull on the left rein, so I had to consciously soften that rein. I won’t say that all of this work was beautiful as I felt a bit like a bobbling fool at times, but I was soaking up the experience like a sponge.

Finally, I was permitted to think of turning a step and then riding forward out of it. Kristin explained that Gadget offers to sit, but we need to teach him to always be forward thinking so he doesn’t get stuck, so I ride him out of the turning step more forward and praise him. It’s much easier to the right, where Gadget naturally likes to bring his haunches to the inside, and it was much harder to the left. When we got a couple steps, Kristin was so excited and because this is such hard work for Gadget we did not do much of it.

Although I could feel that I had learned so much and made huge changes to my riding, I was most struck by the image I saw when riding by the beautiful (unshattered) Shade Tree Farm mirrors. It was hard to believe that Gadget and I could look like such a balanced, uphill, and powerful team. I am very grateful to The Dressage Foundation, Kristin Stein, and my wonderful husband, Hani, for allowing me to have this incredible experience.