Riding lesson

This past weekend our barn hosted a three-day riding clinic with Thomas Ritter, a famous trainer from Artistic Dressage. Here's a picture of him riding a horse named Electa in our arena.

He learned classical riding the hard way, from the bottom up at the intimidating Spanish Riding School, the pinnacle of fine horsemanship in the world. Thomas occasionally gives private lessons to the horse boarders at my barn, and others in the area who haul their horses in just to work with him. Here's a little description of dressage:

Its fundamental purpose is to develop, through progressive training, a horse's natural ability. At the peak of a dressage horse's gymnastic development, it can smoothly respond to a skilled rider's minimal aids by performing the requested movement while remaining relaxed and appearing effortless. Dressage is occasionally referred to as "Horse Ballet."

Electa is a Lipizzaner mare, and here Thomas is working with her "from the ground." I love watching, because with almost imperceptible cues she will perform marvelous and beautiful movements. Of course he is highly skilled, and she is highly trained; not to mention bred for dressage. Have you heard of the world famous Lipizzaner stallions from Vienna? Those guys are her relatives.
And here's my sweet brown Sizzle, patiently waiting for her dressage lesson. Is she worried about impressing Dr. Ritter?
No, she is not.
And neither was I, actually. I was looking forward to my lesson with an open mind, and curious how he would instruct an old Quarter horse and lazy trail rider in such a technical discipline. The answer is: you start at the beginning. That means around we went, receiving instruction and feedback while trying to ride basic 10 and 30 meter circles. Riding exact circles in a empty arena without markers is much harder than it looks. Cutting corners and going oval does not count.
Finally (perhaps in frustration!) Thomas attached a 30 meter line to my boot, and held the other end in his hand. My goal was to ride a perfect circle around him at the posting trot without letting the line sag or get too tight. And it was amazing how much that simple exercise helped me to see and feel the circle. And Sizzle was very good, I could tell she was trying her best.
After 45 minutes, my brain was slightly fried but Sizzle was still fresh as a daisy. Overall, it was an exciting experience to work with such a fine teacher, and he left me with plenty of homework.