Pegasus, Unicorns, Dragons, and the Dressage Frame

So I've started taking lessons from the owner of the farm, Maggie, this past month. I am not used to not having lessons and I also need to have a less biased set of eyes on the boys so that I can be told exactly how it is. She has plenty of eventing experience and is very patient which are both things I need at this point in my riding career.

I'm not sure if I've expressed my love for jumping but if you aren't aware of it let me try to spell it out for you. I love jumping like Santa loves good little boys and girls. I love jumping like Harry Potter loves to get himself into mortal peril. I love jumping like boys doing no-shave-November love their beards. I love jumping like ET loves to phone home, like girls in the 80's loved big hair and mom jeans (those should never EVER come back by the way), like Miley Cyrus loves wearing granny panties in music videos, and like candy deprived little kids love to go trick-or-treating. It's legit.

I have a background of jumping, but that is only 1/3 of the skill I need to successfully make it through a 3 day event. Cross Country isn't so much a new skill to learn as more bravery and miles to acquire. I have never done it before but in essence the idea is the same as in the jumper ring with a few more hiccups along the way. Many of these hiccups are meant to try the horse or the horse and rider combo rather than just the rider.

Where I am lost beyond recognition, and where Maggie truly comes in, is this dressage thing. For those of you who don't know what dressage is, open up a new tab (do it now), go to Google, and type in "Grand Prix Dressage." Go ahead. Watch the whole 6 minute test. See how the horse prances and does movements I couldn't even attempt on my own without a horse in my wildest dreams? See how the rider is motionless? And how the horse's head and neck are beautifully muscled and arched? Yeah, that's what I have to learn how to do. Minus the prancing, the ballet moves, and anything else that makes you go "WOW!"

The main thing I have to learn is how to teach my horse to carry itself well. This includes a good head and neck carriage and a rounded back. I'm not sure if this is a battle I'm ready to begin to fight! For starters, I've never had a dressage lesson (granted, flatwork is all dressage and I've had plenty of flatwork lessons, but nothing more). Then, I'm riding horses that are green. Marvel barely knows how to get from point A to point B without tripping over his hooves and Panda is as unbalanced as a top losing momentum. Cash is on a whole different path so he isn't even a pawn in this game! So I don't know how to ask for this frame, I don't know what it feels like were I to catch a glimmer of it, and my horses don't know how to offer it to me. It's a bit like being up a creek without a paddle.

Maggie is eternally helpful and I know we will eventually get there. But when she watches me clumsily trot my way around the arena with hands too low and legs to wiggly I'm sure she probably feels more hopeless than I do! When I hear, "Half-halt and push him up under you!" I try my darndest, I really do, but when Panda gives me a quizzical response (or complete lack thereof) I have to turn to her and ask her if this book is fact or fiction! When we achieve even mild success, be sure, you will know. Until then... I could really use all the help I can get!

NOT a dressage frame.