Silva Martin - Part II FINALLY!

My desperate pleas for another lesson with Silva paid off! The misfortune of another who had to give up her clinic spot, opened a place for me yesterday with Silva at Serra Valley. And it was fantastic! Katchi was so funny when we first walked into Serra Valley's beautiful (heated!) indoor arena - there were lots of interesting things he might have wanted to look at, but he was mezmorized by Silva teaching across the ring. He couldn't take his eyes off the pretty German lady! Little did he know what he was in for - much to my delight, Silva hopped up on Katchi for a bit! Since I bought Katchi 3 years ago, he's only been ridden by someone else a handful of times, so it was great fun for me to watch him go! And go he went! Wow, Silva had him working hard! Poor Katchi thought that should be the end of the lesson, and I was just itching to get started!

I've watched the video of my last lesson with Silva at least 100 times, and although there were some things I was happy about (and Katchi looked lovely), I was overall really frustrated with my position. That "slumped over a computer" look just isn't the one. I was determined to fix that. During "snowmageddon" I took some time to go through some videos from a few years ago when I had the opportunity to be a working student, riding several fantastically talented dressage warmbloods. I wasn't perfect, but I looked good - I was in a place in the saddle to allow the horses to work beautifully. I need to get back to that. I've watched the video of yesterday's lesson, not quite 100 times yet, and even I am impressed at the change in just a few weeks! Silva said I (and Katchi, of course!) should get the most improved medal. She might be right. Of course, there's always more to do, but I'm really pleased at what I've been able to fix over the past several weeks. It really makes me excited for the show season to start -a bit of motivation I really need while way too much snow still sits on the ground!