Free Lauren and Lucky by Kelly McKain Page B

too.
    Even more exciting, when we have our trip out to the Dorset County Show on Wednesday, Sally says we’ll be seeing some freestyle dressage to music in one of the show rings. So we’ll be able to get some tips from the pros, as well!
    Oh, she’s back, gotta go… 

After tea
    We’re all going swimming soon, but Jody says we have to let our tea go down for half an hour first. Hopefully that’s enough time to write about what happened this afternoon!
    When Sally came back, we started off talking about the most important elements of dressage, and she wrote a list of things like rhythm and balance and expression, and also that “the aim is to get yourself and your pony moving as one, in harmony”.
    I reckon me and Lucky can manage that – we’re such a good team already!

    Then Sally explained the compulsory movements. She said we could work them into our own routines however we wanted, but that it’s a good idea to make everything flowing andsymmetrical (i.e. to do each thing twice, once on each rein). She said this is also a good idea because if you don’t get something right on one rein you still have another chance to show the judges you can do it – clever, huh?
     
    Here’s the list of compulsory movements:
     
    Medium walk
     
    Working trot (and also show a few lengthened strides)

    20 metre circle
     
    Working canter

    Rein back 4 steps (tricky!)
     
    We can also add other stuff like 10m circles, turns, all the other transitions (well, maybe not halt to canter, or even walk to canter, not for me anyway!), serpentines and free walk on a long rein. Leonie wants to do counter-canter in hers, which is mega-difficult! Sally says it’s a possibility and we’ll see how we get on. With so much choice of what to do, our routines are going to be really different from each other!

    When it was time for our lesson we were already massively excited and we’d all started having ideas about what we might put in our routines. We were still chatting away as we warmed up in the manège and Sally had to tell us to calm down and concentrate! As we were walking and trotting round on each rein, she explained that one of the cornerstones of dressage is getting good impulsion, which means, well, not speed exactly, but more likepower through the pony’s hindquarters. I don’t know exactly how to explain it, but I do know that Lucky and I didn’t have much of it! He did wake up a bit when we did loads of turns, circles, half halts and transitions, though. Sally said he’s much more expressive in his movements when I get him going just that extra bit more, so if I can improve his impulsion I should have expression sorted out, too.

    Flame has no problem being expressive, she’s as much of a drama queen as Paula and they look great together! Their work was brilliant from the start – and even during the warm-up they were sailing round in this beautiful springy trot like complete pros. Marie’s working trot looked nice and even, too – once she’d got Mischief actually on the track, that is! And Leonie seems to be able to get Charm to halt exactly at the marker, neverleaving a leg behind. I wish me and Lucky could do that!
    When we practised the compulsory movements one by one I found the working trot quite tricky, and Lucky didn’t at all get what I was asking for in the rein back.

    But, can you believe it, Arabella said she thought it was all easy-peasy! Sally smiled and said, “Well, of course you can easily do each thing on its own , but it’s putting the movements together and hitting specific markers that’s far more challenging.”
    Unlike Charm, Lucky doesn’t seem that interested in making transitions exactly at the right markers, and that’s something I really need to work on – well, something else ! I don’t mind, though, there’s plenty of time to improve on everything. And I love how relaxed Lucky is; it’spart of his character and I wouldn’t want him to be any different!

    I kind of wish