Working trot/rounding up

Last night, something clicked on my ride.

Last week Cath rode Champagne after my lesson to get him cantering a bit. I was feeling a little tentative to canter because of my still-healing finger. When I saw her ride him he looked gorgeous, all rounded up, neck nicely arched, poll the highest point; he looked like a seriously beautiful animal instead of like a long-backed run-of-the-mill horse. I asked her why he looked so great, and she off-handedly said, “Oh, I just put him in a frame.”

I was still a little reluctant to canter last night, but the ring had been freshly groomed and we were the first to track it up. He was listening to my legs and doing nice light walk-stop and walk-trot transitions, so I decided to try putting him in a frame myself.

Now, Cath has many times told me that you push the hindquarters forward with your seat and legs and gather up the energy in your hands through the reins. She also always reminds me to sit up straighter and sit deeper in the saddle. Well, I try.

Last night, though, I took a firm grip of the reins, which I had shortened more than usual, pushed with my calves in a rhythm with his stride, took the concavity out of my lower back, and rode.

At first he thought I was going to ask for a canter, but then he really got it. He put his face perpendicular to the ground, rounded up, and stepped into a very energetic working trot . . . and kept it up, both directions! There would have been a canter available, too, if I had asked. I could feel for the first time the sense that the power generated from behind was surging through his body into mine, and I was keeping it focused and channeled with my hands through the reins. This is a more energetic form of riding than I’ve been doing, I guess, but it also feels very cool.

Can I replicate that again this evening? Can I extend it to the canter? I guess I’ll find out.