I am most certainly the biggest dork of them all, I enjoy guilty pleasures like breaking into song randomly, belting out my favorite songs in the car and now singing at the barn while riding. Does anyone else do this? I have been told it is a great tool to keep you calm and relaxed if you can get away with it.
I have always had issues with my posting speed, I will keep a good rhythm at first but it will slowly pick up speed and it usually ends up with me getting a little panicked trying to slow the horse down as they are doing the fastest trot ever, which is why we have done a little more sitting trot to try and strengthen my core and leg muscles to help hold me into the saddle and prevent me from bouncing into the saddle during my posting trot.
Saturday I was all by my lonesome out at the barn and I loved it, it’s so peaceful out there all alone. G was not particularly good at the mounting block it seems that he has regressed a little bit and is now turning his hind end from the mounting block, so we spent about 5 minutes just circling the mounting block until he stood still enough that I felt comfortable getting on.
I had my iPod at the barn with me and figured that I would just listen to it in one ear it might help me keep my posting a little big more consistent. We started the night out at a walk doing serpentines that continued to get smaller every lap of the arena which forced G to use his hind end a little more. We are working on building his muscles up and getting rid of some of his winter weight by doing fairly easy moves but ones that make him think about that I am going to ask him to do next. He was not spooky at all so we picked up the trot while in the trot his head was high and tense which makes me a little tense also. So to calm myself down I started singing out loud to myself which instantly had a good effect on G he lowered his head and relaxed his ears turning them to listen to me sing.
It was during this that I realized how strong our bond has become already because any time his trot got a little to quick for me to handle and I started to get nervous I was able to simply say to him “easy” and he would slow it down enough that I was comfortable and could get a good posting rhythm that worked again for both of us. He was responsive to my aids it was amazing feeling that connected to him, something I have only felt really one other time. I was even able to use my elbows as the “hinge” I keep being told about to keep my hands from bouncing the reins and bit, so there was very little head tossing, and a lot more throwing away of the reins, I am starting to feel a lot more confident in my riding and I think he is too.
Because he is still pretty young and his muscles are not incredibly developed I have been keeping our rides fairly short only going over 30 minutes if we have worked mostly at a walk, he was pooped after about 20 minutes of trot work and 10 minutes of serpentines at a walk.
I am working at perfecting my position and have been reading a lot about classical dressage positions and how my position effects G as well as the movements we are hoping to achieve. It is only going to go up from here and I cannot wait. He gets Sunday and Monday off but Tuesday – Saturday this week we will be back at it I can't wait.
I have always had issues with my posting speed, I will keep a good rhythm at first but it will slowly pick up speed and it usually ends up with me getting a little panicked trying to slow the horse down as they are doing the fastest trot ever, which is why we have done a little more sitting trot to try and strengthen my core and leg muscles to help hold me into the saddle and prevent me from bouncing into the saddle during my posting trot.
Saturday I was all by my lonesome out at the barn and I loved it, it’s so peaceful out there all alone. G was not particularly good at the mounting block it seems that he has regressed a little bit and is now turning his hind end from the mounting block, so we spent about 5 minutes just circling the mounting block until he stood still enough that I felt comfortable getting on.
I had my iPod at the barn with me and figured that I would just listen to it in one ear it might help me keep my posting a little big more consistent. We started the night out at a walk doing serpentines that continued to get smaller every lap of the arena which forced G to use his hind end a little more. We are working on building his muscles up and getting rid of some of his winter weight by doing fairly easy moves but ones that make him think about that I am going to ask him to do next. He was not spooky at all so we picked up the trot while in the trot his head was high and tense which makes me a little tense also. So to calm myself down I started singing out loud to myself which instantly had a good effect on G he lowered his head and relaxed his ears turning them to listen to me sing.
It was during this that I realized how strong our bond has become already because any time his trot got a little to quick for me to handle and I started to get nervous I was able to simply say to him “easy” and he would slow it down enough that I was comfortable and could get a good posting rhythm that worked again for both of us. He was responsive to my aids it was amazing feeling that connected to him, something I have only felt really one other time. I was even able to use my elbows as the “hinge” I keep being told about to keep my hands from bouncing the reins and bit, so there was very little head tossing, and a lot more throwing away of the reins, I am starting to feel a lot more confident in my riding and I think he is too.
Because he is still pretty young and his muscles are not incredibly developed I have been keeping our rides fairly short only going over 30 minutes if we have worked mostly at a walk, he was pooped after about 20 minutes of trot work and 10 minutes of serpentines at a walk.
I am working at perfecting my position and have been reading a lot about classical dressage positions and how my position effects G as well as the movements we are hoping to achieve. It is only going to go up from here and I cannot wait. He gets Sunday and Monday off but Tuesday – Saturday this week we will be back at it I can't wait.
No comments:
Post a Comment