different horses?

[noodle]

Ok I came in here a while ago moaning I couldnt canter, well I have just about mastered that with the use of a 16.2 {cant think of the type, stocky but NOT a cob}foward going mare from the RS.
I got moved up to the WTbC class, well chuffed but told I should let others use this mare and to try diferent horse.
Well the horse was a little shorter but is an eventer/hunter type? and I struggled, I felt so unsafe cos he was leaner.
Why do I feel safer on a wider horse?
PS the mare was more foward going
Noodle x

[Miriam]

Well done. But dont ask me why you feel safer. First horse I ever cantered on was a western riding horse called Smokey at the yard where Katie85 worked. I came home and still had problems cantering my own mare. The rode a TH who loved to canter and never looked back since.

[Shire Monster]

A forward goin horse in my opinion is easier to sit to cos you aren't struggling to get horse moving. If you ask for canter and bam you get it, you can maintain your position and concentration on yourself and what you are doing, if you are struggling to get the canter, once you've got it you can be flustered (well I am anyways ;)) cos it didn't happen straight off, I often feel quite unseated if I the canter doesn't happen soon after sitting trot, in my experience a horse tends to trot faster and faster (very bouncy in sitting trot) when its saying I'm not sure I want to give you canter, then half the time goes on the wrong leg from a very fast trot.
A forward goin horse (thats not going to tank off with you) is the best to learn and establish canter in my opinion.
Also your point about the build of horse, I have always ridden chunky horses, not always cob types, but hunter types, ID and of course cobs, very rarely have I ridden finer horses (being on the chunkier side myself) I recently started up again and rode a TBx fairly fine horse, I felt like I was sitting on a washing line :eek:. He was gorgeous, easy to ride, ask him for anything he did it, never rode with a stick and never had to be more firm than a nudge with him. One lesson we had a tiny spook I flew through the air, it wasN'T his fault wasn't mine but I swear if the horse was more like what I was used to I'd not have fallen. I personally have always felt fmore comfortable on wide horses, (prob cos thats what I've learnt on) but in my mind its easier to maintain balance on and a wall than it would be on a washing line.

[cwb]

If you have only ridden the one horse up till now then a change of horse, no matter what the type or width, will feel different and you have to relearn your balance.

Once you have ridden a number of different horses you will take less time to adjust to the new horse - I have now ridden 6 different horses and the last change of horse I barely noticed any unbalance.

Whereabouts in Essex are you? - I ride at Shopland Hall EC near Southend. That mare sounds like Cleo!

[Shire Monster]

Oh BTW it does give you a better seat and balance riding diff horses all the time, you will get there in the end, you seem to be doin really well so far!
Years ago I regularly rode a bucker, he was beautiful to look at, to ride and temprement I think he just enjoyed gymnastics :eek: tell you what tho he taught me alot about balance and a deep seat, never got me off ;)

re-read last post I sent and edited, I typed was his fault :eek: I fell, meant to be WASN'T just for anyone who doesn't read threads twice ;) I wanted to put this in :o

[noodle]

CLEO shes mine mine !!!!!!! I want her!
Yes you guessed right.
I have ridden 5or6 different ones now but keep going back to her xxxxxxx

[noodle]

Oh forgot to say, I will let you guess what horse I am not feeling comfortable on x

[cwb]

It's got to be Ziggy:rolleyes: or possibly Hovis - Tetley is bigger than Cleo at 16.3 though he isn't as wide. Cleo is just a lot of horse :D

I just love Hovis - he is nicer than Cleo in many ways but Cleo taught me so much, I still have a soft spot for her, but she can be mareish and grumpy at times and she doesn't pick her hooves up!

Now I am going to have to go round calling out "Noodle" to find out who you are :p

[Shire Monster]

had a look at your riding log CWB you and noodle are very lucky cleo is a very lovely lady, she is absolutely gorgeous!!!

[noodle]

ARRRRRR now its tetley I am having probs getting into canter but he felt smaller than cleo.
never ridden ziggy, I told them i was too heavy for him{little white lie}
I love cleo to bits and my RI said she is very foward going with me.
Hovis, his saddle hurts and falls over his feet!
Chester is ok but stirrup buckles leave bruises.
hehehe got cleo again in the new year, cant wait

[cwb]

Right - it surprised me too that Tetley is taller than Cleo!

After my first canter on Tetley, Hayley said that even the RIs have difficulty in getting him to go into canter cleanly and that he is one of the more unbalanced horses in the RS.

He DOES pick his hooves up nicely though and this is probably why you find him so different to Cleo - his trot and canter is much choppier than Cleo's.

Also he is very stiff and finds going round corners, especially on the left rein, more difficult than Cleo, which is why he leans.

On the positive side, he is easier to ride over poles as his motion doesn't change as much as Cleo's does when she is forced to pick her hooves up.

Don't talk to me about Chester! Awkward cussed beast he is!! Ziggy is lovely - he is old and wise and a very precise ex dressage thoroughbred and he really tests your aids, only going well if you get them right. But when they are right he goes as nicely as Cleo. He really IS skinny, though - it is like sitting on a razor blade!

Do you usually have the same RI? Which one?

Shire Monster, Yup she is lovely and so are the other horses - we are very lucky to have such a good RS to go to.

[Lora]

Chester is ok but stirrup buckles leave bruises.


You need to make sure the buckle is up under the skirt after you've adjusted. I got terribly huge (and sore) bruises after riding with the buckle below the skirt level. Fixed me from doing that again. ehhehe

[goeslikestink]

noodles you have to alter your stirrup leathers for each horse
as like you say sometimes they wide
you had problems with stirrup buckles with one horse

you measure your stirrups to the lenaght of your arm
placing your 2nd finger tip on the strriup bar
and with the other hand pull down the stirrup tread end
to your armpit - if it dont reach its two short if the leather
is at armpit its to long

has to be stirrup to arm pit
different horses different saddles different lenght

so always check your stirrups lenght on a horse you riding
if jumping up one or two holes if dressage down one or teo holes if general stuff leave alone

thats why you losing your balance

[cwb]

goeslikestink ,

don't worry, the RIs at our RS always look after the riders' stirrup lengths if they are wrong and also ensure the buckles are pulled up fully under the saddle flap.

I think the issue is the design of the saddle - I find that depending where the stirrup bar is fitted, the stirrup leathers can either be tight on your shin or well away when your feet are correctly in the stirrup iron.

Hovis & Tetley's saddles are of the tight variety and I think this is why noodle is getting bruised.

[noodle]

The buckle can easily be felt through the skirt ,maybe the skirt is very thin or the buckle just dosnt sit back nicely under the saddle, all I know is they leave imprints on the skirt{outside}.
I have already had a laugh with the school and told them I will pinch his saddle so he can have a new one !
I think I just prefer sitting on a wider horse and feel more secure with it,
WEll I go down there tuesdays, and have been taking my lil un there for over 3 yrs now

[cwb]

I usually ride Wednesday afternoons and/or Thursday mornings but I also help out in the yard during the week when I am not busy.

I have asked the RS if they will do a Saturday hack out over the farm and sea wall - the Essex meet is looking for somewhere better after our poor hack out near Maldon.

So you could join us on that if it comes about - otherwise we are looking at a place in Tiptree.

[goeslikestink]

goeslikestink ,

don't worry, the RIs at our RS always look after the riders' stirrup lengths if they are wrong and also ensure the buckles are pulled up fully under the saddle flap.

I think the issue is the design of the saddle - I find that depending where the stirrup bar is fitted, the stirrup leathers can either be tight on your shin or well away when your feet are correctly in the stirrup iron.

Hovis & Tetley's saddles are of the tight variety and I think this is why noodle is getting bruised.

yeah i know most do but its soemthing you should do for self alot of riding schools guess and do it for you as juding if you do it yourself as describe which you should be tuagh to do-- then you will be riding at the correct lenght as your legs on a horse are as long as your arms

noodles is getting brusied becuase her legs are not in the correct position for her and the horse
every horse you get on you should check your length f stirrups as a matter of course as each horse each saddle is different
that is a basic rule you should be doing that yourself and have tuaght that to do i one of your very 1st lessons

[vimto92]

yeah i know most do but its soemthing you should do for self alot of riding schools guess and do it for you as juding if you do it yourself as describe which you should be tuagh to do-- then you will be riding at the correct lenght as your legs on a horse are as long as your arms

noodles is getting brusied becuase her legs are not in the correct position for her and the horse
every horse you get on you should check your length f stirrups as a matter of course as each horse each saddle is different
that is a basic rule you should be doing that yourself and have tuaght that to do i one of your very 1st lessons

I was never taught how to do my stirrups myself at my first riding school. At my second I tried and learnt how to do it - its fairly simple once you get the hang of it... but practice makes perfect. At my riding school as soon as you get on they will offer to do your stirrups which I think is very kind and is good if your horse wont keep still.

I don't do the stirrup as long as arm rule as I ride how I feel comfy on that particular horse. It seems that your almost giving cwb a lecture:o

Back onto the original topic, you probably feel more secure on a wider horse as in general they take up more leg therefore making your lower leg feel more secure.

Riding different horses is almost vital for your development in riding - its done me no end of good. I now feel fine on the small ponies, wide ponies, speedy ponies, nappy ponies, horses (although I dont ride the horses much as Im one of the smallest in my group:p). Riding the difficult horses has made me quicker with my reactions and aware of certain things... like if the horse is about to nap... getting nervous etc. My RI pointed it out the other week and its true. Last year.. put me on a napper and I would've cried and refused. Now I will ride the nappy horses and push them through it, as I know they can do it and its almost like they use it as an evasion but that just means they end up doing more work. My RI often says "Ooo Vicky, they've picked the wrong one to nap with!"

[goeslikestink]

no not a lecture--
different horses different saddles different stirrup lenghts hence why you should check it yourself

ialways start of with stirrups then position