I did it!

I reached out to a local dressage trainer (by email, phone, and text--it as a lot of anxiety battling for me), set up a lesson, hauled out to it, and then scheduled another one!

won't stop sticking his head in trees and bushes
to save his life

I've had my eye on DL for awhile as she's the first to pop up when you search local dressage trainers, but also because one of my former barn mates (who now lives in CA) trained with her for awhile and was super happy with her--and how she went to DL with a very specific goal (place in Regionals at Second), and that's exactly what they accomplished. 

It was an easy peasy thirty minute ride down DL's barn where Opie unloaded and hung out tied to the trailer calmly while I got him tacked up. 

desperate times call for desperate buys.
hoping his fenwick hood helps with the zen.

The first thing she asked when she came into the ring was, "Are you an eventer?" Sporting my jump saddle and double bridle like a complete jamoke. I had to explain that no, I was STILL waiting on my custom saddle to come in. I told her that I want to finish out my bronze this year and while he has a change each way, they're next level wild. 

She had me warm him up while she watched. We did some shallow leg yields, some 15m circles, changes of directions, and rein backs. She asked if this was his starting out tempo or his usual tempo. Meh, both? Better after a canter, but honestly we all know going forward into big gaits isn't my strong suit. 

She let us finish a quick w/t/c ("OK well the canter is certainly his gait, isn't it?" Yes, says every dressage judge ever, but riding it is so hard.), and then had us try an ice cream cone exercise: half circle at A and then leg yield when you get X. The timing of it made no sense to me tbh. Her indoor is a short court and it didn't seem like there was any room to actually accomplish this. Even as she talked me through the timing, I was like, "Eh?"

Honestly it wasn't a great start. I know I need my basics polished as a rider and Opie has some holes to fill in. I'm happy to work on both of these things 100%, but I wasn't feeling it so far. 

Fortunately I think she got the sense that this was all pretty lackluster because she pulled us on to a 20m circle. Truly, honestly my favorite place to be. 

For the next twenty minutes straight we trotted on a circle. Sometimes we got to go down the long side in shoulder-fore. I didn't have my spurs on because I pulled them off last week when he was being Satan and he seemed happier, and boy did I regret that. She kept asking me to push for more--push, push, more, PUSHHHH. Opie and I were both like, OMG we got nothing left to give! Finally she deemed it an acceptable working trot. 

::cue sobbing:: 

LOL.

She got after me a ton for collapsing my right side including my right hand and needing to pull my left shoulder back. She said she could see how he would find the changes hard because the straightness isn't there. Agreed, and this horse does his best to pull you crooked, but he won't even let you make him straight when it comes to the changes. 

When we moved on to the canter he instantly flipped a switch and tried to get wound up. My go-to was to shut him down into a smaller sitting trot. DL said, nah make that fucker go. Back to our calf-killing "working" trot, then some sitting trot transitions, down to three steps of walk, and then into the canter. 

We didn't do much there. It was the end of the lesson. I felt like he was going a hundred miles an hour and falling in on his shoulder, neither of which she said anything about. When we were done, she was like, "You have to get out of this saddle. You're all over the place in it and can't plug into it." Yeah, wouldn't it be great if I had a saddle made just for the both of us? Grrrrrr. I did email my fitter again to ask WTF?!

Overall her observations were:

• He's very happy in the double. I think she had serious doubts about this. I can't blame her, we look ridiculous. 
• He looks very happy overall. He doesn't look like any of the work he's done up to this point has made him sour, and he wants to try. 
• Bring the spurs to the next lesson, he's lazy and needs the extra encouragement.
• I need to work on being straighter in my body, carrying my hands, pulling my shoulders back, and asking for waaaaaaaay more from both of us. 

we were both ready for snacks and a nap afterwards

We go back next Friday morning. If I don't have a dressage saddle from my fucking fitter by then, BM has one from a horse that passed away she thinks might work for us. We're going to make something happen. I do kind of know what I'm doing, I'd like to be able to show that.