Ride the aid. In one of my lessons this week my coach Belinda Trussell told me to “ride the aid”. What does this mean? When I give Biasini an aid I must be ready to ride the response. Is the response the one I wanted? Yes? Then ride it and remove the aid. If it was a rein aid I must give and if it was a leg aid I must remove the leg or legs. Was the response insufficient? Then I must repeat it with a stronger aid or if necessary bring him back to the walk and go over the movement to explain it to him again.
Also “ride the aid” can be that if I feel a change in Biasini I must ride the aid to encourage him to continue or to correct .
All of these decisions must be made within a second because in a second Biasini may have changed his frame or slowed down or dipped down. It is always an on going situation. Here is a video of part of my lesson . Belinda has to teach and video at the same time which is no easy task.
This weekend Belinda and her assistant trainer Lynsey are going to be competing. Belinda is taking two horses she has in training: Feng de Lys and Bella Venezia. Lynsey will be riding Carlucci, owned Barb Sinclair, in the Prix St. George. Very strict Covid protocols and restrictions will apply at this show. No spectators and each rider can have only “essential persons” to help them . Each essential person has to fill out a form and each day on arrival they are temperature checked and must be masked on the showgrounds at all times. If the rider is mounted then they are not required to wear a mask. There is no visiting between groups in the stabling areas. And each stall row will have their own assigned washroom.
I will be going to the show for Saturday as an “essential photographer” to take photos of Belinda and Lynsey. This will be the first horse show I have been to since Covid changed the world. This is the first National level show in Ontario for dressage. I will be posting photos and I also hope to do quick interviews with Belinda, Lynsey and groom ( a very essential person) Lexi to find out how they find competing in the time of Covid.
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