Piaffe

Lesson this morning on Gracie with Frances.  Warm-up was 10M circle to shoulder in along long side to 10m circle, across in shoulder-in, 10m circle, should-in, etc.  Gracie needs that to convince her to bend and actually use her stomach muscles.  Once she was warmed u we went directly to piaffe along the wall.  Frances used her long whip on Gracie's hindquarters.   Started out a little pissy, then really moved up to the piaffe.  Next I trotted around the circle then tried to gradually move into piaffe.  That is harder -- it's a lot easier for me to get it from walk than from trot.  Have to move my legs back, click, and sit a little forward all at the same time and all sort of gradually.  

On to canter work -- just a few moments really, but asked for very very collected canter while still maintaining roundness, then jump out to longer canter.  She was great to right and after three tries great to left. 

Back to trot -- to right I can ask her to move her haunches to my whip and we zip right into amazingly good half-pass.  To left she is still confused and I have the worst time ever sitting in the direction of travel.  I fall off to the right.  I start using an indirect left rein.  All wrong and all bad.  No wonder Gracie has trouble!  So..  I need to think about stretching my left side.  That puts my right shoulder back where it belongs and makes it barely possible for me to use my left rein to lead her over.  Her haunches do go over, it's the shoulders I have trouble with and I think the problem is what my left hand is doing. Yeesh.  When I get it together for a few minutes - keep my left thigh on her so she has something to move into and so I am almost sitting on the left instead of falling off the right she does go over.