Amanda Miller lesson June 23rd

 Sindri was great for our lesson with Amanda Miller! He trailered really well, loading right up on the first try and unloading calmly once we got there.

Before our lesson started, we warmed up on our own with lots of figure eights, circles, and serpentines to help loosen him up and get him stretching before we got to work. We didn't canter during our warm-up, so our first canter of the day was with Amanda.

As soon as we started the dressage lesson, Amanda noticed that Sindri tends to fight the contact at the trot. When I asked him to move into the contact, he would throw his head and have a little temper tantrum because he didn't want to carry himself, lift his back, and use all the muscles needed for proper dressage work. Amanda explained that he's learned throwing his head can pull my arm forward, giving him a release from the contact. To help with that, she had me hold my outside hand on the breastplate where it attaches to the saddle. That kept my hand steady so he couldn't pull it away from me. Once he realized he wasn't going to get a release by throwing his head, he became much softer and was much more willing to step into the contact and carry himself.

We also spent a lot of time working on our canter transitions. Amanda pointed out that I tend to overprepare before asking for the canter. Instead, she wanted me to focus on getting him balanced, relaxed, and correctly bent first, then simply ask for the transition. She had me trot until he was in a good rhythm with the correct bend, then told me exactly when to ask. That helped him step into the canter without rushing and made the transitions much smoother.

She also had me continue holding the breastplate with my outside hand during the canter. Personally, I think he probably would have gone a little better without it because contact in the canter is something he already understands well. He doesn't usually fight me there the way he does at the trot. Since this was Amanda's first ride with us, she didn't know that yet, so it was a learning experience for both of us. Even though it made the canter a little more challenging than normal, I still think it was a good exercise and something we both learned from.

After our flatwork, we headed out into the field to jump. We started with a small crossrail, first trotting and then cantering to it to get warmed up. After that, we moved on to a line set at about six strides. We started with both fences as small verticals, and Sindri went through the line really well on the first attempt, so Amanda raised both fences a hole or two.

The next time through, we both saw an awkward distance, so we came back and rode it again before Amanda changed the second fence into an oxer. We jumped the oxer line twice. The first attempt wasn't our best distance, and then it started pouring rain. Amanda wanted us to go through it one more time in case the storm ended the lesson, and I'm really glad we did because our last trip through the line was definitely our best. We finished there because of the weather.

Overall, I was really happy with Sindri. He traveled well, worked hard all day, and gave me some really nice moments. I think we both learned a lot from this lesson, especially about improving his acceptance of the contact at the trot and making our canter transitions much simpler and more balanced. Even though the rain cut the jumping a little short, it was a very productive lesson, and I think we both came home with a lot to work on.