Force of habit

Hello, everyone!

Today I had a private lesson on Bails in preparation for the jumping competition in two weeks time (and also, I couldn't make Pony Club yesterday). It was a good lesson in that my problem with show jumping is not the fences themselves but the fact that it's a course, so we primarily worked on that. My steering tends to go to pot when jumping courses, and I end up with too much energy going sideways instead of forward. My lesson today focussed a lot on my that, and my problem seems to be from things I've been taught over the years.

One of my big issues is that I have a tendency to hold my hands in the wrong position. They are either too low, or I open up the outside hand when turning. The latter problem is something I was taught last year in particular but it's now second nature to me. I do it without thinking. It's also why I end up with lateral movement. I have to teach myself to keep my hands closer together and to fix my outside hand more - which sounds easy, but when you're also being told that you need to be on one seat bone more than the other and elongate a leg to nudge the horse into straightness becomes a bit of challenge. To make it harder, there were lots of changes of rein to mess with my head, because what was left is suddenly right and what was right is left.

Bails was a star as always. When I get it correct he responds straight away, although by the end of the lesson he was knackered and had no energy left. On the bright side, I can now steer a lot better. I'm hoping direction won't be my problem with the course. The only downside of the lesson is that I didn't actually go over any jumps. The instructor just put some poles on the floor. In a way this was good, because it meant I didn't have to worry about light seat position and all that jazz, but it is a negative in that I now haven't jumped for a month and I've put myself in for the upper jumping class.

I'm hoping that I can have one more lesson before the competition, but even if I do it would be with a different instructor - so the new habits I'm trying to learn wouldn't be enforced! It's a bit of a vicious cycle because I have lot of habits that I need to adjust before the competition.

Of course, there's no guarantee that I'll be riding Bails for the competition in a fortnight. I could end up on a youngster, in which case a different riding style would be needed entirely. Bails has been around some pretty high level courses in his time so he knows what to do when it comes to show time. Nevertheless, it's all very confusing!

What are some of your bad habits, and how did you correct them (or realise they existed)?

Until next time!

I hear sleigh bells!

It's that wonderful time of year where people put up their Christmas decoration and the shops start playing our favourite Christmas tunes in the middle of November. We both love it and hate it.

In between buying presents for birthdays and, of course, Christmas, I received word that the annual Christmas show jumping competition is happening next month. This is a small event my stables throws. It's just a bit of fun for its clients. There's the actual jumping of the course as well as the dressing up element, so it's usually pretty good.

This year I made the brave (or stupid, we'll see!) decision to sign myself up for the upper class. I've normally always stuck with the lower due to inexperience with courses, and also I tend to have a run out or two. My steering gets a little off, especially when the horse/pony I'm riding gets a tad excited and doesn't seem to be able to turn any more so we just keep going sideways - yes Duke, I'm talking about you!

I decided to sign myself up for the upper class for a couple of reasons though. Firstly, it could well be my last competition at the stables, for Christmas at least. Next year I'll still be at University and won't be back in time to do the competition, and the same will apply for the two years after that. Depending on where I go to university, I may end up moving away. I'm sure I'll find another stables, but it really isn't the same.

The other reason is that sometimes the horses concentrate more on bigger jumps. Bailey is a great example of this because on many occasion I have ridden him over jumps and he has let his back legs kick the pole for the simple reason he doesn't put the effort in if he doesn't consider the jumps worth his while. If the jumps get bigger he starts picking his hooves up and really thinking about it.

I would really like to place this year, but I'm not sure how much practice I'll be able to put in. I'm going to miss Pony Club this weekend, so I'll only have half an hour on Sunday. Depending on how much money I have in my bank account affects whether I'll make the next session of Pony Club, and then it's the show on the 13th!

Nevertheless, I'm really looking forward to it. Hopefully this year none of the costumes will prevent the rider from getting on the horse - last year someone's antler-hat had to be replaced with a plain, normal hat or else she would not have got on her horse!

Have you got any competitions coming up?

Until next time :)

Are you going to university?

Have you considered what you'd like to do at uni yet?

I'm in my last year of secondary school, so next September I'll be off to university. It was only this year that I made a decision about what I would like to study, so whether you're in year 12 or year 10 (or equivalent) remember that it's okay to change your mind.

When I was in year 12, I always thought that I would end up studying English and/or History for my degree. I never even considered anything else. That all changed when my Dad pointed out to me that it was possible to do other things at university, things that might be better suited to my interests, like horses.

It hadn't really occured to me that you could do anything horse related at university, besides joining a horse riding society etc. Once I started looking at equine degrees, I realised that it was actually what I would love to do. In fact, I now even have a career in mind.

So what equine degrees are out there? Well, I've applied to do equine science courses, because I would like to help retrain and rehabiliate horses, and the science courses tend to have behavioral and therapy modules.  I would like to mention here that I don't study any sciences for my A Levels. Yep, that's right. I've applied for an equine science degree with my highest science qualification being at GCSE. How? Because the colleges I've applied for don't need it.

There are some that will need a science, but it's really important to just check these things without assuming. I nearly assumed a science was necessary, but actually I just need to show that I have the potential to study at degree level, and be prepared to put in the effort learn the science skills.

Of course, there are other equine degrees. One of my back up options is all about training and management, but there are others that are about behaviour, equine performance and coaching, and equine therapy. There are probably even more out there that I don't know about. Some include riding, some don't (although there is an opportunity to ride at most places).

If you are interested in studying horses for your degree, don't be put off by them being based at colleges. It's actually a blessing because seminar sizes are smaller, you get to know the lecturers, and usually the campus is really pretty because the college will offer agricultural and horticultural courses too (and there are some really adorable animals if the college does small/farm animal courses).

I'm really excited to go to university now that I know that I'll love what I'll be doing. I have an interview in a couple of weeks for my first choice college/uni, and the rest I have received offers from - so hopefully before the year is out I'll be able to make my choices and start applying for the more stressful things like the student loan.

If you take anything away from this post, then I really hope it's that there are so many courses out there that you don't need to do anything conventional. If you're living in the UK and would like to take a look at some equine courses, then I'd recommend Hadlow college, Writtle College, Myerscough College and Hartpury College. These colleges should give you a taste of the variety there is to choose from.

Until next time!

On The Bit

Hello, everyone!

Last Sunday I had a really lovely lesson on my favourite horse, and I have to say that I don't remember a time when he has moved better.

I had a different riding instructor, and she had me really thinking about what it is for a horse to reach for the contact, rather than artificially holding their head in an outline. Bails has a habit of holding his head up, so when you ask him to go on the bit with your hands, he's using the wrong muscles to carry his head. I hadn't really thought about it before, but my instructor pointed out the lack of muscle on his topline compared to the muscle on the underside of his neck. There is quite a difference!

So I spent the lesson teaching him to respond to my leg. There was lots of praise when he responded, and before long he was really engaging his hindquarters. By the end of the lesson he was reaching down into the contact, and I could feel that his entire body was working. Perhaps most importantly, he was powering himself from his hind quarters, rather than leaning on the forehand.

The thing that was most challenging for me was keeping my hands in the right place. I was working with a longer contact than normal to encourage him to stretch, and so my hands kept moving away from each other. It was also difficult for me not to tighten my hold on the inside rein when he was drifting out of the circle we were on. It was almost a lesson of opposites!

It was such a fab lesson and now that I know how he moves when he's really engaging and paying attention, I have something to work towards each time I ride. I'm not sure how well it will pan out in group lessons (if he's not at the front/behind a faster horse, he won't have anywhere to surge into when I ask him for a little bit more energy), but I'll certainly try because it felt fantastic!

On another note, have you ever encountered horses that dislike other horses in the stables? There are two such horses where I ride. Leading Bails in, one of them pinned his ears back and the other looked as though she kicked a back leg out whilst also snaking her head over the door! It amused me (once Bails was safely out of their reach, anyway!).

Until next time.

Restaurants

I recently went out for a meal with my family to a restaurant that we frequent quite a lot when it comes to meals out, and they had a new menu for Autumn. I knew before we even got there what I'd be able to eat from the main course section, because let's face it - menus do not change that much, and being vegetarian I only have a few choices to pick from.

The starter menu was a bit of a disappointment. I don't often go for starters, and last weekend I definitely didn't because the only vegetarian starter was bread, which would be too filling when the main is a pasta dish and comes with garlic bread. I was fine with not having a starter but when the waiter came back to our table to check that I wasn't having one, my sister turned on him.

She started saying that it was awful that there was only one vegetarian starter, that he should complain to the chefs and generally just making me embarrassed and the waiter uncomfortable - it's not like he makes the menu. Her little outburst did get me thinking though.

I've been vegetarian for five years or so now. I'm quite used to restaurants only have a few veggie-friendly dishes, because vegetarian diets aren't the most common in Britain. But does that mean it's okay to be overlooked?

I appreciate that other diets are overlooked also, such as vegan and lactose/gluten-free, but given the seeming awareness of and trends towards alternative diets, should restaurants be doing more to accommodate for all of their customers? I might be used to only having a couple of dishes to choose from, but that doesn't mean it's okay for restaurants to provide so limited amount of alternative-diet food.

Being vegetarian, I tend to get a little bit fed up when things like buffalo cheese are part of a meal. Just using normal mozzarella would automatically make that a viable option for vegetarians. Furthermore, it would be nice if there could be a bit more creativity in the menu for vegetarians. I like having cheese with my pasta, but when my choices are narrowed down to macaroni cheese, some other form of pasta with cheese, or a veggie burger (with cheese), it really feels like I cannot escape the dairy.

I know I am a bit of a fussy eater. I hate mushrooms, so even when that option is on the menu I don't look at it twice. But the thing is, before I became vegetarian I had so much choice. If I didn't like a food type, it was fine because there were so many other options. Vegetarianism may not be the norm, but it does feel like the choice becomes a pasta or burger. Some restaurants have a quiche or tart of sorts, which is great, but in some places it feels so constricting that I end up eating the best sounding choice even if it isn't what I want because there isn't really another one.

If I struggle to eat out, then I know it must be even worse for other diets. I know there are bound to be more specialist restaurants out there, and they may be able to cater for certain dietary needs (such as gluten free) if you let them know in advance, but sometimes that isn't an option if it's a spontaneous thing. When the rest of your family doesn't have any dietary constraints, then it isn't really feasible to find a place that has more than three veggie options.

It might be our lifestyle choice to be vegetarian, vegan or whatever else, but it isn't to have allergies. With growing trends in alternative diets, then more notice should be given. If anything, it would be a welcome break to have more options, if not in the main course then at least more than two options in the starters.

So my question is: should restaurants provide more varied dishes to accommodate for different diets, as opposed to just happening to have the bare minimum?

I'd love to know what you think, whether you're sympathetic or believe it's self-inflicted.

Until next time.

America!

The 18th October brought with it a cold Sunday morning, a long flight, and a day lasting more than 24 hours. Why? I had a school trip to Washington, D.C. and New York City.

Washington was, for me, the best of the 8 days abroad because of the stunning architecture and relevance to my History A Level. Here's a few of the best snaps from my three days there.

The White House

War Memorial

Supreme Court

Robert E. Lee's House, Arlington Cemetery 

New York was pretty awesome too, but I am not a fan of busy places particularly and so found it a little bit stressful - especially when there's someone dressed up as the Joker in Times Square saying "why so serious?" behind you.

Time's Square

Statue of Liberty 

View from the Empire State Building

View from the Empire State Building

These are just a few of the pictures. We also went to Gettysburg on the transfer from Washington to New York in order to see the battlefield. It was an incredible trip, but I was very happy to get back home and return to my normal sleeping pattern.

Until next time, folks. 

The Jumping Basics

Good evening all,

Over the past three weeks I have had two riding lessons, both of which involved jumping. The first of these was a pony club session in which we went back to basics - i.e. a single, small cross pole. The second was a lesson where we tackled a double and a small spread.

The PC lesson was all about us learning to feel when we were jumping correctly. After a warm up, we took turns going over a fence with no help from the instructor. We had to tell the instructor afterwards how we would improve the jump, so we were really thinking about what we were doing.

I found that straightness was the main issue for me, because the horse I was riding was quite reluctant to leave the track. I think he's a little green and/or young because I've not had that issue for a while, and he also dies on the get away. It's such hard work to get him to stay straight and going forward, but we just about managed it!

Speaking of, there was one jump that I think we were all surprised he went over as he had so little impulsion before the jump. A couple of strides away from the jump he just... drops. I think he'll improve over time, because there's only so many poles he can knock down before he gets the hint - right?

The second lesson was a lot more energetic for me. I was back on my favourite horse, and he was being so well behaved in terms of speed. He didn't charge the fences down like there was a bucket of oats on the other side. Sure, he was a pest in the walk but I totally forgave him when he barely touched the poles (by his standards anyway).

One of the things we did before we got onto the jumping was trotting in jump position, transitioning up to canter, and then once we caught up with the ride slowing back down to a trot. I have never felt so comfortable in a canter, in jump position. Jump position to me normally equates to pain, but I felt as if I could stay like that for a good while longer. My legs felt really secure, and Bails was listening to me completely.

It was such a great lesson, and I had so much confidence with Bails, that when we went over the spread just to finish of the lesson, I almost wished it was bigger. I haven't felt so fantastic jumping in a long while, and I might have to request a jumping lesson on Bails when I have my two private lessons this month.

What have your most recent jumping lessons been like?

Until next time :)