AN AFTERNOON DELIGHT

Photo used with permission
www.yokinasphotos.com

It goes without saying (but I will say it anyway), that I'm single, currently unattached (unless Chandler counts) and I'm good with that...  just sayin'!  My mom would tell you that I don't have time to fit in a romance and that perhaps, (well she wouldn't say perhaps) I am too set in my ways to have a little sumthin' sumthin' on the side, if you know what I mean.  Yet, I am woman (here me roar) and a girl can have a dream or two...  if you know what I mean...  just sayin'!

I met a man today... an older man with a deep, throaty voice...  his accent was German and his eyes were a steely blue.  And, when he spoke, you were lured into a place of dreams and success as his words carried you forward...  Folks, I speak to you of Dressage... sexy, sexy dressage.

What, you say?  How can Dressage be sexy?  Do you need to spend more time outside?  Have you lost connection with reality?  Isn't Dressage about boring circles and precise movement?  Please, Suzanne, I encourage you to try Match.com or Eharmony and leave the indoor arenas alone!

All you horse girls out there know what I mean...  a man with an accent pushing you and your steed to a place that may be difficult to achieve...  each step, each movement his voice encourages you to go deeper, to accept contact, to push forward, increase the impulsion and the arena echos with the tempo of, "That's it... yes...  That's it, That's it, That's it...  good, good, good...  YES, THAT'S IT!

"Good, let him relax, let his neck out...  good job!"

Used with permission
www.yokinasphotos.com

Phew, I do enjoy auditing a good clinic... yes indeed!  And with that, I'll leave this post with just a few tips from the master - Conrad Schumacher and some of my observations:

• I don't ride enough, ask for enough and tend to accept so little as good enough.
• Even a Prix St George rider has things to work on:
• Don't pull on the reins during a reinback
• Left seat bone has to work as well as the right seat bone.
• Sit up and ask
• The horse's back must work first... all the whips in the world won't matter if the back isn't working
• A long neck allows the back to build up muscle - short neck constrains the back
• "Keep the neck under control."
• Riders without helmets are distracting no matter how lovely the horse.
• Don't keep trotting with a bad neck, go back and fix it at the walk and then return.
• After a day off, be slow to get the engine revving again.
• "You must not be perfect but must be truly good."

Poor Sugar, she just hates when I watch upper level dressage... the next week or so may mean she'll be wicked busy...  Just sayin'!