Monday 6 February 2012

Lesson #2

Yesterday i was finally able to connect with my trainer to have our second lesson. It was a rough weekend everything that has been going on has finally caught up to me and left me a little emotional.. and i mean almost in tears at the dog park emotional.

So i got to the barn yesterday to find the entire place soaked with mud, im glad i have big knee high Mountain Horse boots. G was very easy to catch as usual but he doesnt make it easy, its almost as if he KNOWS im going to be riding today so he situates himself as far out in the feild as possible and just watches me walk up to him. On a possitive there was no stopping and refusing to walk forward with me. He was even amazing in the cross ties, no head tossing or dancing around. He was calm so i brushed all the mud off of him and cleaned his feet, we have made huge progress with the feet cleaning he barely fights me when i try to lift his feet.

So our lesson started out ok.. i was a little late and G was so calm so i was going to see how he did without any lunging. We did a lot of work at the walk tightening my core to get him to slow down but keep a nice big walk. We had a few scary moments in the corners of the arena but there was no running off or bucking it was just a little bit of panic and moving away from the corner. I tried really hard not to let that bug me or make me tense because for the first time ever i could feel how he reacted to my stress i could see his head coming up and how tense he was. So we worked on pushing into the corners going both directions. We worked on out halts, there are times were we get a perfect halt and others where he starts backing up on me which is something we will be working on a lot because i find that a little rude lol i said backwards not reverse...!

We started working on our circles and keeping my hands soft not using his mouth for balance and using my legs to keep him on a circle. Every time my trainer asked me for a trot i became terrified i tensed up and beg her to keep this lesson at a walk. It took everything in me to keep my mind clear, but i wasnt able to and broke down in tears ontop of G. My horse aparently really needed to pee because at this time he started to pee and did not finish until i was past being emotional.

My trainer is my best friend so she knows what im trying to deal with and with some encouraging words and reassurance that i AM good at riding i know what i am doing and i cannot let other peoples opinions bug me anymore, She asked me to pick up a trot just for a few strides and to stay seated. it took less time to get him into a trot than in our last lesson and it was beautiful. There was no bouncing around in the saddle i was using my legs to absorb the movement and hold me in the saddle, when i sat tighter and tightened my core he slowed to a nice walk. We did that both directions and i felt 1000x more confident in my riding.

She did make a video so once i get it i will post it... im sure it is not very good lol and its not nearly anything like some of the other videos posted on here but it is my 2nd video of my riding (ill try to find the first one in my horrible a/p saddle on a different horse so you can all see the progress i have made as a rider). I am learning and making a lot of progress in such a short time. I will be out at the barn again tomorrow since it is my day off, wont be riding because the Strathcona's are in the arena during the day but G and i will go for a walk and bond. Or maybe if someone else is our riding we will go along.

I still feel stressed and emotional today but with so much going on it is to be expected. I want to be good at riding i want to have the perfect horse and i am going to make that happen no matter what it takes i have a lot to overcome but i know that i can do it!

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