6 Weeks

I'm hosting and riding in an Arthur Kottas clinic in six weeks, after Rogo being lame for most of the winter. We are so out of shape, me more so than him. I've hired a riding teacher, Megan Bishop, to work with us on fitness (while riding) two to three times a week for six weeks. Also Joan will start our dressage lessons twice a week if it ever gets warm enough for her to teach.
As you can imagine we're both very rusty in our dressage, as well as being out of shape. Can you tell I'm not feeling very confident? I need to work on mental as well as physical strength.
I've had one lesson with Megan so far (yesterday) and my main take aways are :
- Think about holding my abs / core firmly. This almost instantly made me straighter in the saddle and better balanced. I need to keep reminding myself.
- Count the rhythm constantly. Use the counting to keep the rhythm the same and also to stay focused. - Let Rogo canter at his own speed when he starts (for now). Then when I ask for more be gives it. This was quite a dramatic improvement (his canter had lost its joy).
We're working on transitions which I'm very happy about as it's probably our weakest area.
I'll see if I can up load a trot video. Stiff sboulders are another thing needing improvement!