Steffen Lesson Day

Yesterday I had a great lesson with Steffen. He is much more picky on test movement stuff than Lientje, which was good for me. He really liked how Oslo was going though and how he was in the connection. He said a few times how happy he was with all that. So, he went after the precision of the little things such as halts. We also rode the pirouettes on the centre line, really working on the rideability of them and Oslo staying in front of the leg. Steffen is the master of pirouettes and is so picky about the quality! Steffen says Oslo collects really nicely in them and has the right idea, he just needs to stay that much more listening to the leg, especially inside, so that I can eventually ride them smaller and tighter. We also worked on the cadence in the trot. Same stuff as with Lientje, but instead of using the whip as much, he got me to use the leg, and spur when needed, along with me clucking! At one point he said I needed to cluck louder and all I could do was laugh since I was lucky I was clucking at all (for those of you who don't know, I have always had trouble making the clucking sound)! So then we went to the trot half-pass and he emphasized the need for the neck bend and the shoulders going over first. He says the focus with Oslo should be neck bend with an expressive shoulder sweeping over and then worry about the haunches later. He says the impressive part is the shoulders and front legs, so that is what we should get first. We also did walk pirouettes and he thought Oslo should get very good marks for those as long as I keep the rhythm and activity. So first we rode the pirouettes too fast and focused on the activity and then I had to slow them down a bit and work on the rhythm since he was now active. All in all it was pretty good and I am very happy that Steffen was very happy with Oslo's connection. Lientje also stayed for the 2nd half of my lesson (she rode her horse before so she was putting him away, but then came back to watch). I thought that was very nice since it was late and she could have just left to go home, like everyone else does at 4:00 at the barn!

The other exciting event at the barn today was the capture of 2 Rattlesnakes! Bugsy, Lientje's dog would find them and chase them into the corner! Dad and I also saw a Gophersnake on our way from the barn to the parking lot. It was much bigger than the Rattlesnakes - about 4 feet long or so. I guess that is one thing that we don't have to worry about back home. It is way too cold for dangerous snakes!