Lesson Eight and a pic!

[MadMumInKent]

Hello :)

Not such a good lesson today... things just didn't come together and I ended up feeling like a rubbish rider (again) :( We were cutting corners, losing the canter, all sorts of things. My 8 yr old came and watched and took some pics... I didn't realise how bad my position is, and I feel utterly deflated.

Anyway, chatting to my instructor afterwards, and there's a possible horse available for loan... she's going to have a talk with the owner. And if this one doesn't come off, she said there are always loans/shares coming up, they do loans on some of the riding school horses too. They are all on full livery, she said they usually charge 40 quid a week which is basically unlimited riding and no work to be done, except riding would be limited at weekends on the riding school horses obviously cos they are busy then, but that would suit me down to the ground. But after today's lesson, I'm feeling a bit rubbish about it all to be honest... I know its early days still, but at the moment I don't feel I'd deserve a horse on loan!

Anyway, here's a pic of me on Liquorice...

http://www.tammaro.co.uk/Dsc00188.jpg

And while I'm here, thought I'd sneak this in... meet my new puppy who'll be coming to live with us in May... I went to see the litter at the weekend and chose her, she'll be called Tia :)
(Sorry, the pic is a bit big!)

http://www.tammaro.co.uk/tia.jpg

[karebeth]

You're doing fine, I'm sure! Always enjoy your updates. Tia is precious!

[Bertie]

Your doing great don't worry - as you'll see we all have times when we feel deflated by our riding not every lesson can be perfect that's how we learn :) ;)

As for Tia she is gorgeous - is she a boxer??? My dog's called Tia it's a great name :)

[Luxie]

MadMuminKent - I've enjoyed your postings so much, thanks! DON'T let this less than perfect lesson put you off - we're not machines and neither are our horses (thank goodness), so we can't programme what's going to happen, and can't always produce what we want.

And as for "deserving" a loan horse ... If we all had to deserve them, there'd be an awful lot of people unable to find sharers or loaners for their horses, and who would that benefit?

You go ahead with your plan; with the care and thought you're obviously bringing to the matter, I'm pretty confident you'll never regret it.

[AliC]

Don't worry about having a bad lesson - it happens to everyone, we all have bad days. I hope you manage to find a horse to share/loan at Nelson Park, that would be ideal for you - good luck. Keep us informed!

Ali

[madferret]

My god, I've had about 100 lessons now and occasionally I have bad days too!
Keep at it. I read there are 4 stages to learning to do anything, they are as follows:

Unconcious Incompetance ( You're unaware of the mistakes)
Concious Incompetance (You become aware of your shortcomings - probably where you are now :) )
Concious Competance ( you become aware of how well you are doing)
Unconcious competance ( you're so good, you don't have to think about it)

I seem to drift between the middle two, Don't think i'll ever get to unconcious competance though!

When I went to see Jester (who I share) I could hardly sit to his canter, veered all round the school and made a right *** of myself, but luckily he is a real confidence giver and his owner liked me, so there is no reason why someone shouldn't give you the same chance.

Just make sure you ask the owner whether they are suitable for a novice, you can then have private lessons on your share horse and you'll come on leaps and bounds

Good luck xxx
PS the puppy is adorable

[claude]

My gosh I know what you are feeling!

When I started learning I often left the lesson in tears feeling useless!

You have to think about all the things you have achieved - then one bad lesson doesn't seem so bad some how.

Keep your chin up! no doubt your next lesson will be great!

Thats great news about the loan too - just think soon you might be able to ride whenever you want - you'll be amazzed at how quickly you learn. Although you still get a bad day now and then! :rolleyes:

[MadMumInKent]

Claude - Next lesson is on Friday... fingers crossed it goes a bit better! I left the lesson feeling quite frustrated but then gave myself a slap, cos its all going towards the learning experience and even though things didn't go as well as they could have done, I still enjoyed it, which is the main thing.

Madferret - thanks! I think you're right, I'm definately at the stage 2 of your list... I do know what needs doing but sometimes I just don't manage to make it work, or else I'm too busy thinking about other things (like staying on!!) ;) Its nice to know that even though things didn't go quite to plan when you tried out Jester, his owner still took you on. :)

AliC - Thanks! While I was there this morning I found a copy of Pegasus! Duh - I go there twice a week and obviously walk around with my eyes shut cos they have heaps of them! Ahhhhh, now I understand... eyes shut... bad lesson... it all begins to fall into place ;)

Luxie - Don't worry - this is in no way putting me off! I am disappointed that it didn't go as well as it could have done (meaning I want to be a perfect excellent first class rider NOW!!) ;) But all it does is encourage me to keep trying, cos I will get there one day! Well, maybe not quite 'there' but I'll at least feel I'm competant ;)

Bertie - thankyou for the encouragement :) Yes, she's a boxer. I already have one (pic in my avatar), and I can't wait for this one to join us :)

Karebeth - thankyou :)

[Bertie]

MadMum - Tia looks like she'll be real cutie I bet you can't wait for her to come home.

This is my Tia before she became a 8-stone rottie :eek:

[KarenMcD]

Don't despair - we all go through it and it's just part of the process of learning.

Up until a few weeks ago I could canter merrily round no probs - now it has all gone to pot. Keep losing my stirrup, tensing my legs, doing strange things with my hands etc etc!!!! I was so disappointed after my lesson on Saturday that I went for a further two lessons on Sunday - back to back!!!! I've now cooled off - I sat through a Beginners lesson (which is where I started a year ago) and amazed myself by how much I have progressed - despite not being perfect - and I'm sure it is the same for you.

Hope things go ok for the horse loan. And guess what you have inspired me to do? Advertise for part horse loan also!!! So thanks for that! I openly admit that I copied big chunks of your ad so hope you don't mind.

Keep smiling!

[MadMumInKent]

Karen, thats wonderful news!!! :) I'm really pleased for you! Let me know how you get on with your search.

I've been having a think about my 'off days', cos I had one the other week too, and I've decided that even an off day is an accomplishment because it means I'm getting more aware of what is going wrong, and even though I don't always manage to put it right, I know how to put it right, and that in itself must be an improvement on my early lessons :) Well, it makes me feel a bit better anyway ;)

I wish you loads and loads of luck with your search! Regular updates please! :)

[MadMumInKent]

Bertie - she's beautiful ! Bet she's a handful now though!! :) I'm counting the days til Tia comes to live with us... Got to puppy-proof the garden and the house while I'm waiting for her though. She's only 3 weeks old at the moment, so I've got a bit of a wait, but the lady said I'm welcome to go back to see her before then. Probably a good things its a 100 miles away else I'd be up there every week ;)

[Bertie]

A handful she definitey is :) I would definitley agree with others if your noticing you have off days you've come a long way and are picking up on the thinbgs your doing wrong which is half the battle - I have days where you think I'd never been on a horse before in my entire life :D

Good luck with the half loan as well let us know how you get on.

[Wobblydeb]

Nope, not good enough to take the prized "worst rider" slot!!! :o

If you know you've gone wrong, and what you need to do to put it right, you're at least one level (if not two) ahead of me!! Unless it is simple evasion, I often don't even spot it, and still need my instructor to tell me it looks wrong and how to put it right ;)

I'll bet you a fiver though that your next lesson goes really well. It always seems to work that way :)

[NoviceNic]

Mad Mum - Blimey I have been riding for 4 yrs and I am still a novice. I am hoping however to restart my lessons and improve a bit at a time. I wouldn't give up even if I never make a good rider. I am enjoying what I do and that is all that counts. Plus you always learn by your mistakes. :)

[horseyrose]

Well I've been riding for years and years and I still have lessons when I can't seem to get anything right, we all have off days! I think you're at the same sort of stage as the two friends that I ride with, they know what's going wrong and even how to fix it, they just don't always manage to do it, what with everything else that is going on! Knowing is a huge part of it, and the doing will come with time and experience. You look very nice in the picture anyway.

Good luck with getting a loan horse!

PS. Your puppy is adorable!

:D

[MadMumInKent]

Wobblydeb - You're on! ;)

NoviceNic - I know, you're totally right, its all about enjoying the whole experience, and I do, more than I ever imagined I would at this late stage in life! ;) Thanks to all the wonderful messages I get on my threads, and me being ever the optimist, I feel much better about it all now :) Looking forward to Friday already and wishing I didn't have to wait another 2 whole days til my next lesson!

horseryrose - thankyou! :) There's just so much to think about once you're up there and in mid canter going round a corner isn't there!! ;)

[cazrider]

Madmum, it's great to hear you're still at it, and believe me, doing well :D I have owned horses now for seven years, and my last lesson was also a nightmare, with Sennie still falling out to the right, and me being seriously discouraged. I love him to bits and obviously will perservere, but it does always go wrong sometimes. That's horses ;)

best of luck with the loan idea :D