Thursday, February 2, 2012

Dressage?

I have always known that my Roxy is a lovely, talented, amazing, and spectacular mare- too much? But lately she has become even more spectacular. I've been saying for a few weeks now, that I never want enough appaloosa, they are just not as easily trainable as a quarter horse. Sure enough, as I'm feeling a little melancholic about my mare she reminds me how much I enjoy her.

As of yesterday, Roxy has decided to be the most obedient horse I know. I usually ride while I teach my lessons. This means me clucking at, and cuing horses that I'm not riding. Somehow my mare is able to isolate when I'm giving her a cue, and when I'm giving another horse a cue. I've been working on teaching my students pivoting lately. They are learning how pressure applied differently moves a different portion of your horse, and that it is possible to isolate parts of your horse with just basic pressure. When I teach my students something, I like to demonstrate on Roxy. So Roxy has had the same lesson for about a week. If you know anything about appaloosas, you know how intelligent they are, and how easily they get bored. Roxy has been such a trooper, showing everyone what to do, completing the same task day after day without so much as a head toss.

When I rode her yesterday, really rode her not just demonstrated a thing or two for someone else, I was ecstatic to see how well she's coming along. Roxy has also given into flying lead changes. She is collecting beautiful, starting to work on a looser rein. She is giving me a beautiful western pleasure jog on a loose neck rein, setting her head herself. The 8 year old has did a SPIN a few days ago. A spin! We've been working on spinning since before August! Granted I did leave and go to college for a semester, so during that time she wasn't being trained as diligently.

But why is the title of this post dressage? I have a question for all of you dressage riders. I think that this is a dressage movement, but I'm not sure. Roxy will canter sideways. Not just trekking (I think that's what it's called?), but full on cantering sideways. Imagine a side pass, of course with a little forward movement, but at the canter.

Does anyone know if this is a dressage move? Is my dun mare getting too fancy for her own bridges?


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