Clinic Brain Dump

Oh my god.  Clinic overload.  Excuse the bullets and random blurbs, I just want to remember EVERYTHING.

• Don't be afraid to ride in the double, and don't be afraid to take contact on the curb.  Remember the curb is a straight bit so will be the best gauge of whether or not Mollie is crooked in her jaw and mouth.
• Mollie hates riding with the reins 3 and 1, instead she prefers taking on the curb rein when needed.
• DON'T MOVE MY HANDS.
• My idea of "straight" through my back is actually a hair too behind where it needs to be.  To fix, think of putting my ASIS (see below) through my forearms.  For some reason that visual really worked for me and put me into correct alignment.

• I need to keep closer contact from my mid to upper thigh and mid calf.  As I become straighter and in more correct balance my legs touch Mollie in a slightly lower place, which is correct.
• Horses can feel a fly land on their bodies.  If you ever feel the need to kick or pull something is wrong.
• Slow, straight, push
• Absolute straightness is impossible.  Instead of riding "straight" we narrow the column that the horse zig zags in.  The more narrow the column the straighter they become.
• Slowing down does not bring the back up, but the back cannot come up unless you are slow.
• DON'T MOVE MY HANDS
• When Mollie picks up the trot it should be near piaffe.  I am to stay there until she is trotting squarely, at which point she is allowed to take longer steps until the quality lessens at which point she needs to be brought back to balance.
• Ride with a whip always.
• Any tension that I carry anywhere in my body will ruin everything.  Any looseness in my body will ruin everything.  Find the balance.
• My thighs need to become more vertical, which will happen when I loosen the ligaments in my upper thigh/groin region.  
• As a horse moves forward their vertebrae move from side to side in lateral flexion/rotation.  By closing the column in which they can move the lateral rotation creates a lift up and through their back.
• Ride with short reins, always
• 10-20 minutes of perfectly correct work is always better than an hour of mediocre work.

Hopefully there will be a more in depth post about the clinic soon.  Right now I can't possibly write anything coherent.

Oh, and there are videos.  For now enjoy this one where I straight up DROP MY RIGHT CURB REIN because I'm an actual mess.