Belle Rider
14th Mar 2008, 06:39 PM
Well I had the best lesson ever today. It had just stopped raining and the sun was shining and it was fairly calm so I knew from the start it was going to be good. Then I got inside the stables and saw Jess standing there ready for me and thought 'where's Freddie?' I've ridden Jess once before and found her very lazy and difficult to keep going. That was before I moved on to cantering so I knew I was going to have to try cantering on a different horse too! :eek:
So I was a bit nervous by the time we got to the arena but she was fairly responsive after a warm-up and this despite the fact she's not been ridden for 3 or 4 weeks! She does have a lovely smooth trot which I adore. Freddie's is a bit more jerky. I completely clicked with my trot diagonals this time. I remembered to watch her shoulder at walk first then I'd know what to look for in trot and hooray I got it right consistently the whole lesson!! :D Yup it's finally sinking in.
Then at the end of the lesson we did a bit of cantering. At first she thought I was just practicing sitting trot :rolleyes: then we came back around and she did it this time. I had my inside hand on the pommel but her saddle is really wide and the pommel very high so I had very little grip. Next time round I tried to grab her mane and that worked much better for me. We had about 5 canters and each time it felt better, more smooth and comfortable. :) Hey I could begin to like this thing!! My RI said at the end that my bum wasn't coming out of the saddle at all so I was definitely improving!! :p Next thing will be longer periods of canter I think and trying to steer!! ;)
Sorry for the long post but I'm on a high and beginning to feel things clicking into place. My hubby just doesn't understand!! :D :rolleyes:
So I was a bit nervous by the time we got to the arena but she was fairly responsive after a warm-up and this despite the fact she's not been ridden for 3 or 4 weeks! She does have a lovely smooth trot which I adore. Freddie's is a bit more jerky. I completely clicked with my trot diagonals this time. I remembered to watch her shoulder at walk first then I'd know what to look for in trot and hooray I got it right consistently the whole lesson!! :D Yup it's finally sinking in.
Then at the end of the lesson we did a bit of cantering. At first she thought I was just practicing sitting trot :rolleyes: then we came back around and she did it this time. I had my inside hand on the pommel but her saddle is really wide and the pommel very high so I had very little grip. Next time round I tried to grab her mane and that worked much better for me. We had about 5 canters and each time it felt better, more smooth and comfortable. :) Hey I could begin to like this thing!! My RI said at the end that my bum wasn't coming out of the saddle at all so I was definitely improving!! :p Next thing will be longer periods of canter I think and trying to steer!! ;)
Sorry for the long post but I'm on a high and beginning to feel things clicking into place. My hubby just doesn't understand!! :D :rolleyes: