Thursday 9 March 2017

February Sandra Clinic - Off to a Good Start

I organized and rode in another local clinic with Sandra on Feb 25-26. It went really really well. Sorry for the slow updates about it though.

For my ride on Saturday, Sandra had me pick up the trot to start the lesson as soon as I had warmed up at walk. I was able to set Kachina up for a nice soft transition and we did a few circles and long sides in each direction in a rythmic relaxed good quality trot that had zero racing giraffe tendencies. Best of all, this wasn't an anomoly, this is our new normal for trot work. Sandra normally jumps right in to giving suggestions and gives a steady stream of information throughout the lesson, but she was uncharacteristically quiet as I did my opening work. She then proclaimed with a smile "Okay, you're good, I don't need to teach you anymore!"

Not the best photo but I wasn't able to get much media
At least I'm not leaning forward for once?

Of course she did end up teaching me a lot in the two days of the clinic as she always does. The wheels started to come off the bus when we added in canter work and it wasn't all rainbows and unicorns (lessons learned post to come). It was a super awesome feeling though to come into a clinic knowing that I've worked hard on my homework from last clinic, being able to execute some beautiful trot figures, and have my coach immediately recognize how far we've come.

She ended my second ride on Sunday with the comment "you are definitely on the right track". I don't think there is anything that I could have been happier to hear.

7 comments:

  1. Always wonderful to receive confirmation that we're on the right track from an instructor!

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  2. That sounds like an awesome clinic! It's so good to hear that you are on the right track :)

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  3. Ahhh what a good feeling to get that positive reaffirmation!!!

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  4. That is amazing! I'm so glad that things are progressing in the right direction and all your work is paying off.

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  5. Not leaning forward has been one of the toughest things for me! I'm so glad to hear that you had a great lesson with her :)

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  6. That's wonderful to hear that you are on the right track!

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