Sunday 26 July 2015

Flatwork Lesson

Hi everyone!

So on Friday evening, I had a private lesson on a wonderful horse that excels in Dressage (or used to... he's still fab but no longer competes as far as I know). Anyway, given that I had my normal riding instructor and the horse doesn't do jumping, we got to working on movement and suppleness. For the first five to ten minutes or so, I was riding with really long reins to ensure that the horse was stretching through his neck. Trotting with long reins is a really weird sensation, and it made me realise how much I rely on them. It's not as though I pull on them for balance, but it kind of acts as a guideline for where my hands need to be, if that makes sense. I actually kind of liked having to find my position from feeling. It made me feel slightly more competent haha! Anyway, after this warm up we worked on getting him to bend through his neck, so up the long sides we were getting him to flex his head inwards (as in turning towards the centre of the school). His left side was so stiff in comparison to his right! We worked on bending until he was supple and then threw in some serpentines. Being able to feel the change in the bend when going across the school during the serpentine was awesome. I don't think I've ever really felt that before, but with this horse you really could, and knowing what I should be feeling meant that my aids were clearer too. We also did some circles, which consisted of a few accidental canters. I think I lightly touched him with the schooling whip by accident, and my outside leg had probably slipped back as I was concentrating on using my inside leg and hand to keep him bending. He was good in coming back to the trot though, so it was ok!

Then we got onto the cantering, and wow. This horse's canter is so lovely. You know how when you watch dressage you can see the impulsion of the movement, and you can kind of sense how free it must feel? I had that sensation. Honestly, the impulsion and control was in a perfect balance, and his outline just topped everything off. It was so incredible to feel that sort of powerful elegance and I really want to book another lesson on him just to experience it again. I love Bailey, but I don't think I've ever had a canter that emulates the same feelings just because I'm spending half the time checking him as he gets too excited and just wants to go faster and faster. That's not to say that all the cantering on Friday was perfect - there were a few moments where I lost the outline and had to collect him again, but it wasn't like he was running off to get the lesson over and done with. My instructor was really happy with my riding at the end of the lesson, but in all honesty I think it was due to the horse. If he had been having an off day, then my riding would have sucked. He's just so enthusiastic about flatwork and anything remotely dressage-y that it automatically allows the rider to focus on him or herself a bit more.

My favourite part of the lesson though was actually when I was putting the horse in his stall. He decided to move to make a fuss of my dad who was outside the stable door as I was taking a bandage off, so I just took the other three off as quickly as possible seen as the first one had become a mess anyway. So once I'd done that and managed to get out of the door whilst keeping the lovable boy in the stables, I then started wrapping the bandages up properly. Whilst I was doing this, he was rubbing his nose on my arm and it was adorable. It wasn't a "I have an itch so be my scratching post" - I would have moved away if it was. The nudges were more like "Hey, what are you doing? Can I see? Pleeeaaasseee? And pass me the food that's down there?" It was so cute <3 I felt bad leaving him but alas, I can't stay at the stables 24/7. The only downside of the lesson was the length of it. When going private I can only afford a half hour lesson, but I quite happily would have been riding for an hour. Definitely one of the best lessons I've had in a while.

Well that's all from me. I hope you are well, and I'd love to hear about some of your favourite riding experiences!

Until next time :)

Sunday 12 July 2015

Back in the Saddle

Hi guys,

It's been a while since I last posted and I have a valid reason for that - I haven't been horse riding in about a month. It's been quite annoying to have missed so many sessions, especially as there are things I need to get off my instructor and of course I've missed being at the yard, but it hasn't been possible to get to my pony club sessions. Why, I hear you ask? University. That's right folks, it's that scary time of year when I must write my personal statement, pick a university and course, and make sure I have enough work experience to give me that extra edge. But perhaps all that can come in a later post!

Yesterday morning, I actually managed to have a riding lesson. Pony club had been cancelled due to a lack of people going (just a one off thing) so instead I went to my former usual riding spot of 11am on a Saturday. It wasn't my normal riding instructor taking the hour group lesson (she's on holiday and I'm a bit envious to say the least), but rather someone I had never had before. Now I don't know whether it's just because it was quite warm, or because I didn't know three of the other people in the group, or if it was just an off day, but the vibe was different. I've had better lessons to say the least. What we were doing was fine, pretty good considering that I haven't been riding in a while, but there was just a lack of engagement. But, like I say, that might not have been down to the instructor. She didn't know a few of us as well, so there wasn't a relationship as such. I don't know. I'm rambling now so I'll just get onto what we were doing haha.

I was riding my absolute favourite horse at the stables, and this definitely put me a good mood as I haven't ridden him in yonks. He was being a bit of pickle when we got to the school, as he decided he didn't want to face the wall, but rather a close by horse - meaning I had to keep a close eye on what he was doing in case he decided to kick or bite the horses either side of him. He's usually pretty good, but he was just a bit fidgety. We had been waiting longer than anyone else and he just wanted to get going! Anyway, once we were all ready, Bails and I lead the ride. We did some trot work, then we changed the order of the ride. In truth, I didn't really like this because we reversed the order. The bigger horses ended up at the back, and they were struggling to be so slow. Keeping the correct distance apart was impossible due to one horse that kept napping/wasn't sure if it needed the loo and then there was the matter of not being able to circle due to the ponies at the front eventually ending up at the back. So that part was a bit disappointing. On the plus side, we got to do some no stirrup work.

Normally, I quite like doing no stirrup work because my balance is typically quite bad, and it really opens up my pelvis and gets me sitting way deeper in the saddle. I genuinely think that after doing the no stirrup work I could have happily put the stirrups down at least one, probably two, holes. I didn't for the simple reason that I wanted to ensure my heels stayed down. The downside to the no stirrup work was that Bails wasn't feeling so kind as to give me a slow trot to sit to. He was either walking or doing his working/medium trot. There was no in between, the monkey. His bouncy trot meant that my position was absolute rubbish. I forgave him though because later on in the lesson he collected his canter quite nicely and didn't cause the horse in front to start a race.

Another good thing about the instructor was that she picked up on some riding position faults. Now, I cannot say with certainty that the faults are ones that I've had for a while, that I have because I haven't ridden in a while or because of the horse I was riding (does anyone else have any position related problems with certain horses?), but my lower legs were creeping forward and I was sitting too far back in the saddle. I was a bit worried that the saddle was too far back at the start of the lesson, so maybe I was compensating because I could feel Bails' ribs. I don't know. At least it's something I can work on for the next time I ride (and goodness knows when that will be!) so I was quite happy to have these issues pointed out. By the end of the lesson the instructor established that it's basically just my position in trot that's problematic. Canter is fine - is that a reason to just miss a gait? :P

Well that's all for today. Quite a long post, but hey, I'll probably fall of the radar for a while. I hope you're having a lovely day, wherever you are!

Until next time, friends :)