3/14/2006 - Tuesday, 10 am

• Worked in outdoor arena, with new English child's saddle and bridle

• Walked to get re-familiarized with horse (spent two weeks in New Orleans)

• Posting trot, did an excellent job with diagonals, recognizing correct/incorrectness

• Did well on sitting trot but needs to flow with the horse more

• Cantered for the first time in a while...at first bounced a lot and couldn't' find the rhythm, but after a couple of rounds found a good place and followed the horse's gait very well.

• Worked on jumping crossrails...did very well both trotting and cantering, looking over the jumps and keeping heels down

• Witnessed first run-out and recovered well, circling back to go over the jump without giving horse time to think about it

• Good job, Annica. You'll be showing in no time!!

2/7/2006 - Tuesday, 10AM

• Rode in outdoor arena, using small English saddle for the first time

• Rode without a martingale; tacked up without help

• Learned about showing - etiquette, no talking in ring, lineup, fidgeting, etc.

• "Warmed up" in "schooling ring" at a walk and trot, working on posting on correct diagonal and maintaining a steady trot, and keeping Prissy standing still when she's supposed to, turning at the walk and trot

• Performed in a mock class, with lineup, walking, trotting, reverse, walking, trotting, lineup, back up

• Practiced quick rider changes with Maggie

1/19/2006 - Thursday, 10AM

• Rode outdoors, English saddle/bridle with martingale, outdoor arena

• Walked over poles and crossrail jumps, staying to the middle and focusing ahead of the jumps instead of on the jumps themselves

• Learned show rules....what's expected, what the judges are looking for, etc.

• Worked on posting trot a lot

• Posting trot to the right excellent, with good posture and leg position, although posting to the trot in the other direction tends to upset the leg balance and throw balance forward

• Needs to work on keeping hands off saddle and using body to balance instead of the saddle or reins

• Did an excellent job keeping Prissy going steadily, although with trouble a couple of times with transitions

• Needs to sit before asking for a walk to keep from getting thrown forward upon transitions

• Walked and trotted over jumps; worked on keeping circles between the two small and precise, without running out and staying straight in the middle

• Learned the aids and cues for riding

• Excellent focus...improving every time!!

11/10/2005 - Thursday, 9AM

• Rode outdoors, English saddle/bridle with martingale

• Did an excellent job focusing - tacked up entirely on own! Even got bridle on correctly!!

• Mounted alone, without a mounting block, and learned to adjust stirrups from saddle

• Warmed up at the walk, worked on standing/sitting, counting steps, and walk/halt/back combos

• Wonderful job during sitting trot! Stayed in the saddle very well with a minimum of bouncing

• Worked on circling at the walk, through cones set up at spiraling larger/smaller circles

• Small circles were nice and round, but the larger they got, the more lopsided they got

• Posting was pretty good, but tending to push off the stirrups more than using the upper leg

• Trotted without stirrups and posted without stirrups to help with balance and alignment at the posting trot

• Excellent job overall, and good sitting! Very steady, secure seat!

11/3/2005 - Thursday, 10AM

• Rode outdoors, rode second, English saddle/bridle with martingale

• Warmed up at the walk, doing circles and figure eights and standing

• Practiced dropping/picking up stirrups

• Practiced sitting trot - seat SO much better than 2 months ago!! Steady and not flopping all around in the saddle

• Learned to count steps and feel which foot is stepping, without looking and with eyes closed

• Practiced rising trot without stirrups, and lots of figure eights, stopping, and counting backing steps

• Good work, Annica!!

10/20/2005 - Thursday, 10AM

• Rode in round pen, in an English saddle, without a martingale

• Adapted well to standing in the stirrups, had no problem keeping heels down, but couldn't stay up long standing at first

• Developed the movement needed to stand at the walk, and was able to remain standing nearly as long as I asked

• Did an excellent job at the sitting trot - nowhere near as much bouncing as before, due to learning to move with the horse

• Good job, Annica! Keep up the good work and you can be top-notch some day!!

10/13/2005 - Thursday, 9AM

• Rode using a bareback pad for the first time

• Adapted to the balancing very quickly and didn't do a whole lot of bouncing around at the trot

• Did very well navigating cones, but had trouble knocking them over with the whip

• Did pretty well the entire lesson - started out bouncing up and down, but picked up on the "moving with the horse" bit rather fast

• Still needs improving, but then, don't we all?

• Keep up the good work, Annica!

9/22/2005 - Thursday, 9AM

• Skipped a week because of Prissy's lost shoes

• Played basketball, walking and trotting to throw balls in buckets and catch them while on horseback

• Worked on picking up the correct diagonal, and cantering immediately from a walk

• Did really well collecting the cones from the fence and dropping them in the bucket

• Had a more difficult time dropping cones onto other cones on the ground - trouble lining the horse up right

• Knocked over 14 cones using the horse!!

• Yay, Annica!!

9/8/2005 - Thursday, 10AM

• Worked in new arena for the first time

• Very good posting trot, picked up diagonals nearly every time correctly

• Did well on the uneven/rough terrain and kept Prissy between the cones and the fence most of the time

• Learned how to count how many steps to back up, and when to release so too many steps aren't taken

• Worked on walk/halt combos as well as walk/halt/back combos, counting anywhere from one step back to six steps back

• Cantered in round pen; sitting the canter better and keeping a constant, consistent canter without breaking gait.

• Congrats, Annica!