Post by Alessandra Gray on May 1, 2011 20:09:51 GMT -6
Every person has a home, but not every home is the same. For some people, their homes are inside an actual house, but for some people their home is less customary. For the red head walking next to a prancing buckskin, her home was centered deep within a dressage saddle. Granted, her home was merely centered within any saddle, but sitting in a deep dressage saddle was where she always longed to be. The supple black leather with the deep seat and the large knee rolls are exactly what constitutes home for her.
Light hoof beats could be heard as the mare pranced sideways, anxious to get to work. An ever so slightly convex head was tossed into the air as she was held back by the slight girl. In one swift movement, the saddle was tightened and the helmet settled on the red hair was latched on safely. In the next moment, the girl threw herself up into the saddle and collected her reins so that the mare couldn’t leave without permission from the girl now mounted upon her back. Feet now placed within the irons, the girl let the reins hang loosely without any contact to the bit and pushed her hips forward ever so slightly to ask for a walk. The mare complied, but attempted to take off into a working trot every so often. A slight movement of the girl’s hips communicated to the mare that a walk was what was being asked of her. The mare snorted, anxious to begin working even more.
Laced reins threaded through the gloved hands of the girl as she picked up on her reins, preparing to begin working the thick buckskin mare. Grace, the large buckskin mare, curved her neck and placed her head on the vertical, her ears suddenly pricked forward instead of pinned to her skull. Another slight movement of the hips and the mare began to trot forward, her gait lofty and ground covering. Rising and falling, the girl kept a fair rhythm with the mare as the progressed around the outer edges of the arena. After going around one time, she sat down and gave a gentle squeeze on the leather reins and the mare slowed down almost instantly into a collected trot.
The pair finished another revolution around the arena and entered the arena at A proceeding down the center line down to X. There at the center they halted and the red head gathered the reins in one hand and bowed her head in a salute. They continued to C and tracked left and shouldered in from markers S to V. The mare swished her tail and surged forward slightly in speed as she performed a half of a ten meter circle at S and resisted to half pass at first until a gentle tap of a booted heel met her side and she complied with the request. The pair continued through the test with only a few more mishaps such as the half-pass incident. The mare was excited and prepared still to do more work and the girl gladly decided that now would be the optimal time to attempt less clean movements such as tempis and pirouettes. A slight squeeze of the girl’s outside leg corresponding with the outside forefoot’s fall pushed the mare into a collected canter and the pair began working on the lead changes, starting with every four strides and then moving into less strides between each change. Today the pair would only work up to changes every two strides. The girl sitting astride on the mare was on cloud nine at the responsiveness of the mare during this training session. She sat deep in her seat and the mare stopped immediately, the girl petting the sweaty neck of the thick buckskin mare.
Light hoof beats could be heard as the mare pranced sideways, anxious to get to work. An ever so slightly convex head was tossed into the air as she was held back by the slight girl. In one swift movement, the saddle was tightened and the helmet settled on the red hair was latched on safely. In the next moment, the girl threw herself up into the saddle and collected her reins so that the mare couldn’t leave without permission from the girl now mounted upon her back. Feet now placed within the irons, the girl let the reins hang loosely without any contact to the bit and pushed her hips forward ever so slightly to ask for a walk. The mare complied, but attempted to take off into a working trot every so often. A slight movement of the girl’s hips communicated to the mare that a walk was what was being asked of her. The mare snorted, anxious to begin working even more.
Laced reins threaded through the gloved hands of the girl as she picked up on her reins, preparing to begin working the thick buckskin mare. Grace, the large buckskin mare, curved her neck and placed her head on the vertical, her ears suddenly pricked forward instead of pinned to her skull. Another slight movement of the hips and the mare began to trot forward, her gait lofty and ground covering. Rising and falling, the girl kept a fair rhythm with the mare as the progressed around the outer edges of the arena. After going around one time, she sat down and gave a gentle squeeze on the leather reins and the mare slowed down almost instantly into a collected trot.
The pair finished another revolution around the arena and entered the arena at A proceeding down the center line down to X. There at the center they halted and the red head gathered the reins in one hand and bowed her head in a salute. They continued to C and tracked left and shouldered in from markers S to V. The mare swished her tail and surged forward slightly in speed as she performed a half of a ten meter circle at S and resisted to half pass at first until a gentle tap of a booted heel met her side and she complied with the request. The pair continued through the test with only a few more mishaps such as the half-pass incident. The mare was excited and prepared still to do more work and the girl gladly decided that now would be the optimal time to attempt less clean movements such as tempis and pirouettes. A slight squeeze of the girl’s outside leg corresponding with the outside forefoot’s fall pushed the mare into a collected canter and the pair began working on the lead changes, starting with every four strides and then moving into less strides between each change. Today the pair would only work up to changes every two strides. The girl sitting astride on the mare was on cloud nine at the responsiveness of the mare during this training session. She sat deep in her seat and the mare stopped immediately, the girl petting the sweaty neck of the thick buckskin mare.