Buh Bye Florida. Hello New Jersey!

So tomorrow is my last day in Florida and last day in this beautiful weather before we leave for New Jersey tomorrow afternoon.  As much as I have loved it down here I am so ready to go back home.  Although I can sometimes complain that I'm always working and super busy all the time, having so much "down time" down here has made me really miss working.  I really feel lucky to have a job that I enjoy doing.  I could never be someone to work in an office pushing papers all day long, and I'll take being out in the freezing cold or extreme heat any day of the week over something like that.

After being down here and learning so much I can't wait to go back and teach everyone what I have learned.  In the month that I've been down here I've learned so much and gained so much more knowledge about dressage and jumping that it really puts into perspective what I did know.  Just when you think you've learned 10% of how to really ride a horse correctly, you learn 20 new tools and realize that 10% was really only 1%.  It just goes to show that no one  knows everything there is to know about how to do something.  There is more than one way to skin a cat, and there is more than one way to ride a horse which is why learning is so important and it just shows that in order to be the best, you need to continue your education throughout your career.  Lessons are my favorite part about riding, and I just can't see how you can improve without them.

Speaking of lessons, I had another one today and it was fantastic (as usual).  We concentrated the whole time about keeping Rori soft and letting go of the bit on a long and stretching frame.  We worked within the gait, and through the gaits, the whole time keeping her soft and relaxed.

Another tool that I really felt like I gained today was how to use my arms correctly.  While watching Sinead and the other top riders take lessons down here I could really see how they used their arms to keep a soft connection.  They really kept that "bungee cord" effect with them in order to keep that soft connection and I could really feel myself "get" that today, and in effect Rori felt super.  If as a rider you are stiff and tight, it's only expected that your horse will do the same.  When she started running instead of tightening up or creating negative energy I kept my body more supple and really felt what needed to be done.  In the end I was able to allow a bigger stride without changing the relaxation and everything just "clicked". So cool!!  Now I just need to be able to keep all of these tools active when I get back into Jersey :)

Next time I blog I'll be sitting in sweats instead of shorts, and drinking hot chocolate instead of smoothies, but I'm ready!  New Jersey, here we come!