Pedro
2nd Apr 2001, 12:26 PM
Wednesday, 28 March
After my cantering difficulties, specially with Mefisto, and almost having managed to slip Paloma's saddle off, I had been thinking about the need to improve both seat and balance. I concluded that I was starting to rely too much on the stirrups and my position, specially in canter, had great need of improvement. That's why I had been thinking about the good that could come from a lesson without saddle, and that was exactly what I told Mr. Francisco. You have to admit that it was a pretty good excuse ;)! It's not like all that was not true, which it is, it's just that my main motivation was my love for bareback riding for it's own sake, rather than for all it's positive influence :-).
It didn't took that must persuasion to convince Francisco, he thought it was a very good idea to go back and work without saddle. In fact he had said so in my very first lessons, that saddless lessons would be helpful along any rider's "career" to improve balance. So all was set for a different lesson tonight. Catraia was the chosen "victim", I would rather have had the lesson on Lord, since I'm more used to ride him and so I could better appreciate the differences. Unfortunately Lord had been working the previous lesson so that was out. Catraia was even already tacked up with a blanket and a roller to keep it in place. When I came up to the arena I found out that a pad had been placed below the blanket and roller, to improve the comfort of horse and rider.
The only other rider in today's lesson was Lotus' owner, which was great as I wanted more time for myself, to try my own things, and that would be easier the fewest of us there were. In fact the lesson was even better on that regard than I expected!
But before I could start the lesson there was a problem that had to be surmounted. Now, I was faced with a difficult problem. Francisco had stayed behind, so I could not rely on a leg-up. Vaulting into Catraia's back would be likely to either be an unpleasant experience for her, or she might make that an unpleasant experiment for me. The only solution, and the one I had been planning on was to use the arena's railing to get on board. In theory that looked simple... in practice it was not (that's probably a general truth when it comes to horse riding). Catraia was very suspicious of me wanting her to stand next to the fence. When I stepped between her and the railing she would move away from it, just a little but enough to make mounting impossible. I tried jumping chest first to her back (from the ground, I mean) but that didn't work very well and I didn't insist because she was starting to think I must be nuts! Finally I took her back to the fence and stroked her neck for a while to ensure her I hadn't got any lewd intentions. That calmed her down, and this time I managed to climb into the railing without her steeping away. Still it was a bit of a distance - and an awkward manoeuvre - but I managed to get on (praying all the way for her not to move, as that could have left me in a bit of a predicament :eek: ).
I found that the roller was bothering me a little, as the natural seat was too close to it for comfort, but it was nothing much.
The lesson pretty much wasn't. Francisco stayed with us for a while at the beginning, correcting some minor issues with position and leg aids application, but he then left us to work out for ourselves - which, considering the circumstances, was just perfect! For the duration of the lesson I did nothing else than following the other student. She did some lateral work... I simply followed straight. She did rising trot... I gave my lower back a workout :-).
Working bareback (yes, I know... not quite bare, but close enough) was great. Not only so, but very different from the work with saddle. It was not only a lot easier to feel the horse (hardly surprising), but also easier to influence Catraia's pace with the back. At walk but even more in trot and canter, it was very easy to influence Catraia and much easier to connect with the motion.
Canter work was simply great, in terms of response of my weight and balance to the movement, it was the smoothest canter I ever had! Extending and containing the canter took almost no change in hands or legs, just a little more or less work with the back was enough. I did keep in mind the result of my last canter saddless on Catraia, though. Even if she did try to cut inside a couple of times, this time I managed to keep a horse between me and the ground at all times ;-)!
The lesson was so absorbing that I was genuinely surprised when the other student went to the middle to dismount. I thought that the lesson was just past the middle, when in fact an whole hour had just gone by. I stayed a little longer to do just a couple more laps of canter and then let Catraia cool off. Although I was sad to end such a pleasurable lesson, I have to admit that my thighs were screaming with delight at the idea of returning to the ground - not having a saddle does have that one negative effect, I'll admit.
The following lesson had one specially comic moment, when Montera decided to punctuate a lecture from Francisco with one lengthy laud fart! She almost managed to unseat three riders at the same time, just out of laughter :D!
Pedro Fortunato
Lisbon, Portugal
After my cantering difficulties, specially with Mefisto, and almost having managed to slip Paloma's saddle off, I had been thinking about the need to improve both seat and balance. I concluded that I was starting to rely too much on the stirrups and my position, specially in canter, had great need of improvement. That's why I had been thinking about the good that could come from a lesson without saddle, and that was exactly what I told Mr. Francisco. You have to admit that it was a pretty good excuse ;)! It's not like all that was not true, which it is, it's just that my main motivation was my love for bareback riding for it's own sake, rather than for all it's positive influence :-).
It didn't took that must persuasion to convince Francisco, he thought it was a very good idea to go back and work without saddle. In fact he had said so in my very first lessons, that saddless lessons would be helpful along any rider's "career" to improve balance. So all was set for a different lesson tonight. Catraia was the chosen "victim", I would rather have had the lesson on Lord, since I'm more used to ride him and so I could better appreciate the differences. Unfortunately Lord had been working the previous lesson so that was out. Catraia was even already tacked up with a blanket and a roller to keep it in place. When I came up to the arena I found out that a pad had been placed below the blanket and roller, to improve the comfort of horse and rider.
The only other rider in today's lesson was Lotus' owner, which was great as I wanted more time for myself, to try my own things, and that would be easier the fewest of us there were. In fact the lesson was even better on that regard than I expected!
But before I could start the lesson there was a problem that had to be surmounted. Now, I was faced with a difficult problem. Francisco had stayed behind, so I could not rely on a leg-up. Vaulting into Catraia's back would be likely to either be an unpleasant experience for her, or she might make that an unpleasant experiment for me. The only solution, and the one I had been planning on was to use the arena's railing to get on board. In theory that looked simple... in practice it was not (that's probably a general truth when it comes to horse riding). Catraia was very suspicious of me wanting her to stand next to the fence. When I stepped between her and the railing she would move away from it, just a little but enough to make mounting impossible. I tried jumping chest first to her back (from the ground, I mean) but that didn't work very well and I didn't insist because she was starting to think I must be nuts! Finally I took her back to the fence and stroked her neck for a while to ensure her I hadn't got any lewd intentions. That calmed her down, and this time I managed to climb into the railing without her steeping away. Still it was a bit of a distance - and an awkward manoeuvre - but I managed to get on (praying all the way for her not to move, as that could have left me in a bit of a predicament :eek: ).
I found that the roller was bothering me a little, as the natural seat was too close to it for comfort, but it was nothing much.
The lesson pretty much wasn't. Francisco stayed with us for a while at the beginning, correcting some minor issues with position and leg aids application, but he then left us to work out for ourselves - which, considering the circumstances, was just perfect! For the duration of the lesson I did nothing else than following the other student. She did some lateral work... I simply followed straight. She did rising trot... I gave my lower back a workout :-).
Working bareback (yes, I know... not quite bare, but close enough) was great. Not only so, but very different from the work with saddle. It was not only a lot easier to feel the horse (hardly surprising), but also easier to influence Catraia's pace with the back. At walk but even more in trot and canter, it was very easy to influence Catraia and much easier to connect with the motion.
Canter work was simply great, in terms of response of my weight and balance to the movement, it was the smoothest canter I ever had! Extending and containing the canter took almost no change in hands or legs, just a little more or less work with the back was enough. I did keep in mind the result of my last canter saddless on Catraia, though. Even if she did try to cut inside a couple of times, this time I managed to keep a horse between me and the ground at all times ;-)!
The lesson was so absorbing that I was genuinely surprised when the other student went to the middle to dismount. I thought that the lesson was just past the middle, when in fact an whole hour had just gone by. I stayed a little longer to do just a couple more laps of canter and then let Catraia cool off. Although I was sad to end such a pleasurable lesson, I have to admit that my thighs were screaming with delight at the idea of returning to the ground - not having a saddle does have that one negative effect, I'll admit.
The following lesson had one specially comic moment, when Montera decided to punctuate a lecture from Francisco with one lengthy laud fart! She almost managed to unseat three riders at the same time, just out of laughter :D!
Pedro Fortunato
Lisbon, Portugal