Aiken 2025: Keep it Light

Lessons:

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday were spent soaking up all the dressage knowledge we could. We lessoned with KE, her instructor and S judge Alison Head, as well as the one and only JS. All of the lessons really complimented each other and I started to have some real breakthroughs in my own riding.

Katie's farm is adorable

Some notes:

Horse can be in front of the leg, but not hot to the rein aids. Has to be on ALL aids. Leg, rein, seat

Live in shoulder in with Hampton. 

Plie in canter on the circle

Ranvers turns on the square. Right back to shoulder in

Keep your left leg forward you idiot

Straight With Bend

Bounce him back by sinking into stirrups

"Hot potato" exercise. Jog, walk and hurry him before hind legs shut down 

Canter - Walk - Canter with only seat/shoulder aids. 

There's always a transition in there somewhere

By Thursday I was getting some dramatic
results after such awesome instruction!

Surprise transitions

Turn on the forehand - not just a trick, but look for the results

Drive forward in the walk

A sleepy Porkchop

Balance, balance, balance

LET HIM

Chill out (sometimes I ride too dynamic)

If horse is not forward, you have nothing to half halt

Lessons from an S judge.

Taking four lessons over this trip was absolutely amazing and the results were really phenomenal. Even for a horse pushing 18 years old, you CAN still develop them, improve their gaits and adjust their balance. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

I did receive one good nugget from the S judge and it made me giggle because it just made me reflect on the past 15 years with Hampton and how "unimpressed" some people can be with him and yet here he is accomplishing what many much more talented horses never do.

Transitioned from the canter to the trot ...

Judge: "Is that his normal trot?"

Me: "Yes"

Judge: "Oh."

Now to take our new tools into the show ring at Stable View ...