Elena 06/18/2013

Today was a long day... We had a lot to do! ;-)
In the morning we did some simulations on the seat-builders again with the Level 3/4 class, but this time the topic was the preparation for Finesse!
The students did "Sticky Hands", "Resting Hands" and "Following Hands". It was fun and very interesting, because the students had to be very careful to not loose the contact, but also to not push against the hands or reins.

"Following" and "Resting" Hands!

After the simulations we had a demo about the "Soft Touch" and the "Following Hands" with Klaudia, Erin and Shelley with their horses.
It was very good for everyone to see, how you can keep the contact to the horse's mouth without pulling on the reins.

Shelley, Erin and Klaudia

Then, before lunch, Klaudia, Erin and Heather had their focus stations about "Soft Touch", "Falling Leaf + Backwards S" and "Sideways".
Tammy, Shelley and I had another horsemanship session with Nita-Jo during that time!
Lily and I worked a lot on the Soft Touch, because Lily often tries to pull against the bit in every direction. So I picked up the reins and as soon as she gave the right answer, I let the reins go and sent her in a trot.
I'm riding her mostly with the Confidence Snaffle.
It was a very big improvement after that session, she became so much lighter on the reins!
My posture in the saddle also improved the last days because I'm really aware of putting back my shoulders now. ;-)

After our session with Nita-Jo we supported the focus stations.
In the afternoon we had another demo, this time with Nita-Jo and Tammy and their horses. The topic was "Driving from Zone 3, 4 & 5".
Tammy did a really nice job with her mare, everybody enjoyed watching it!

Nita-Jo and Tammy, both with long reins

Till dinner the students had guided experimenting time. Many students worked on their Soft Touch and many tried out the Driving Game from different Zones.
Tammy, Shelley, Kirsi and I have been around to answer questions and the other three of our group had their horsemanship session of the day with Nita-Jo.