Perfect Transition vs Perfect Time

I've done the vast majority of Butterball's rehab at large in the eight acre field. It's got the best/firmest footing and a decent amount of shade. The small dressage arena is set up in the field and is on the flattest footing. But we've mostly stayed out of it to try to minimize tight turns.

I rode with a dressage trainer who explicitly said you should aim for the perfect transition/movement/whatever, no matter how long it took to be ready for that. He said that in tests obviously you had to do things when directed, but when you were schooling you should prioritize correct work over timely work. While this makes complete sense and is along the lines of "practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect", I do think there is some benefit to the rider to being forced to execute things at a certain point in space. Maybe this benefit comes mostly for us imperfect adult amateurs who would otherwise let the horse prance along merrily without much active riding until a few steps prior to when the transition is needed. Whereas professionals are constantly evaluating, correcting, asking for more and better. 

Wild pony at large, seeking shade 

For the past three weeks, during our last block of work, Butterball and I have been heading in to the dressage court. And ooooh boy does 40m feel short. And the distance between letters feels even shorter.

We've been working on our transitions within gaits doing one letter to another collected, then allowing forward between the next set, then collecting again. It is useful to start to instill some... promptness. But by only doing this for the last chunk of work, we're hopefully maintaining that relaxed swing that we got very good at when trotting unmeasurable loop-dee-loops in the pasture. When it comes to transitions between gaits, executing at the letter has also been useful. It gives me the cue to actually be relatively in control of where he is placing his feet and body in space. 

The horses love to knock over the letters since clearly they are hiding better grass than is available in the rest of the large pasture

And there is certainly something to be said for having the balance and push from behind to execute figures that are actually 20 meters and those that are smaller. Recalibrating my brain to 20m is also useful in that now I can add some freeform 10 and 20m figures in walk and trot into our warm up to help create more bend and softness than comes from larger figures. 

One of the interesting points of riding in the pasture (that funny enough Emma talked about while this post was in the draft phase, waiting to get published at a time that I had less to chat about re BB anniversary, August wrap up, Charlie's adventures etc) is that it does have some gentle slope to it at points. Gentle enough that I can use it either as an aid or a test - asking for the canter transition uphill obviously helps with the uphill balance, but can we get that same nice feel while travelling downhill too? Since we're in Florida we're really talking very, very mild slope, but it's enough to make a noticeable difference still. 

Also there's no rail to aid the straightness or cover up for unevenness in my body or aids. Frequently I'll pick a tree or other point and ride directly at that point, focusing on getting all of his body parts lined up. He's a bendy, wiggly pony and I have my own unevenness, so some straight lines are a definite must for us. While in some horses straight seems to invite a run away tempo, that really doesn't happen with us LOL. Focusing on correcting crookedness with leg aids and my own body is a great exercise in and of itself. The same dressage trainer who said that every transition should be perfect while schooling also at one point reprimanded his working student for trotting straight down the long side on a four year old "He's a BABY! You CAN'T go STRAIGHT for that long!" I'm still interpreting that comment as it applies to Butterball and I at this moment, but we really do seem to find a benefit from not letting the bend of the arena mask crookedness or overusing an inside rein to keep him round. 

Anyways, how's that for a Monday morning ramble. 

Sneak peak of where Charlie will be moving post inspection. Complete with fence that my husband and I helped install.