Lesson 10ish, rising trot and some canter....

[kiwigirl]

Hi, thought I would share me lesson experience's with all you new starters. Some of you may be at the same stage or ahead so would love to hear how this compares and any advice!

Today in we started at basics as there was a new girl who hadn't ridden for 5 years. I thought it would be boring to start with but it was good to go over postion etc again. We then spent the majority of the lesson trotting in a circle practising rising trot. This was the first time I had strirrups in over a month so it did feel a bit strange at first. I had big problems on my horse trek last week with my foot falling through my stirrups but thankfully this did not happen today. I did feel that my stirrups were alot shorter than on the trek - would this help? My other problem seems to be my leg not far enough back and me over exaggerating heels down! So hard to co-ordinate everything at once! But it was good to try and practise being relaxed, stitting up straight, looking forward, leg in position, heels down, arms relaxed and even and try and keep the horse going roun and round! It still does not feel completly natural and I am not naturally co-ordinated!

At the end we went for a few canters down the side of the ring. These felt great the last one was a bit bouncy as the horse really took off and my instructor mentioned suing 'half-holts'?? on her but then said that is a bit advanced. I also tried without holding the neck strap which wasn't too bad but felt I wasn't in the real lean back position the neck strap gives. Also the instructor said I was behind the horses movement. What does this mean?

Anyway went away buzzing and can't wait for next week. I want lots, and lots of rising trot practise!

[horseygeorge]

Cantering on your tenth lesson is great.

A Half Halt is just as it sounds really. half a halt.

If a horse is going a little fast for you all you need to do is tack a feel on the outside rein (the one nearest the wall or fence). Sometimes it might be a hard pull, other times it might be a squeeze of the fingers.

When you pull on the reins the horse stops, or slows down a pace right? Giving a lighter pull on the reins than needed for stopping therefore slows the horse down.

It is an advanced move, but a very useful one that can be practised very easily and is invaluable

[Lyndz & Siners]

you seem like a very good rider considering it was your tenth lesson... you seem to have a lot of control and confident at the walk and trot and cantering ao early is realllyyy good!! im impressed...

ok i've been riding for almost 13 years... so i've picked up a lot of stuff that will help yu with yu problems.. ok so the girl below already answered your half halt questions really well...

so your problem with your lower legs being in the wrong spot and good exercise is spending about five minutes each ride doing a different rythym of posting... so when yu post normally yu ppost up down up down up down up down.. ect... but when doing this exercise yu have to go up up down up up down up up down up up down... so two beats up then one down... this helps because in order to stay standing for the whole two beats your lower legs have to be under yu to support yu... otherwise yu'll fall back into the saddle before the full two beats... i would explain this to your instructor and she should be able to help yu with it... trust me it works really well... my first lesson with my newest instructor.. she said that was my biggest problem... so then i did that exercise for about 5 minutes each time i rode (i normally rode about 2 or 3 times a week) and by my next lesson she said she noticed a HUGE improvment and by the lesson after that she never complained about my lower leg.. and she still hasnt...

and being behind the movement is when you are riding against the natural movment of the horse...it normal comes from being nervous and stiffining your muscles... normally without even noticing your doing it... just take a deep breathe. relax. and let the horse move you natually. i dont no how to break it down further,.,, i would ask yur riding instrustor if you still dont understand..

hope i helped! good luck!

[PonyGirlAsh]

When you are in the first phases of riding, generally you will prefer to keep your stirrups shorter, as this makes you feel more stable and steady in the saddle, and almost forces your weight into your heels. When you start riding with them longer, you need to make sure you have a proper leg position and that you are actually putting weight into your heels, not just pretending! ;) When you were on the trek and you felt your foot going through the stirrup, that was probably because you were riding with a longer one than you normally do, and you aren't quite used to it yet. As you ride more and more without stirrups, you will feel your leg strengthen and it will gradually move into the right position...so when you pick up your stirrups again, they will feel short, and you will want to lengthen them! That's what you are looking for eventually.

Sounds like you are doing lots of no stirrups work, so you should be comfortable riding with any stirrup length for your height in no time!!

Hope that remotely makes sense...it's been a longgggg day and I'm tired! ;)