First lesson at new stables - what a hoot!

[Wobblydeb]

:D I had such a laugh! :D

I was riding the lovely, but very bright "I'm-going-to-put-in-the-minimum-effort" Sophie. She's a really cute piebald native hairy type with the sweetest face. She does however have this whole riding school beginners lark ALL figured out ;)

I was in a class with a couple of kids who were way better than me, but what the heck. We did trotting without stirrups, working trot and back to regular relaxed trot and allsorts. AND...... cantering without stirrups! First time ever, and I did it! :D Didn't do it very well (wrong lead leg, cutting the corners etc. etc.) but I DID IT!! :D Biggest laugh was the instructor asking me to come back to trot to pick up the correct leg, which I did, but then couldn't get Sophie to canter again. The trot got faster and faster and I nearly slipped off the side :p LOL

Ooooooo and the other thing that nearly had me crying with laughter was when we were concentrating on good walk-trot transitions. We'd been asked what made a good transition, and gave all the correct answers - smooth change between gaits, impulsion without dropping onto the forehand etc etc. First horse sets off ahead of me beautifully - exactly as described. My turn and I couldn't even get her to trot.... :o

BUT...... Apparently I got the best ride out of her all week, so I'm happy :D

[SupaTania]

Glad you had a good time. Was this your first lesson ever?

[Jenni]

Sounds like you had a great time. Its good to hear your instructor asking you questions. You get a lot of them that just direct traffic and dont ask you if you actually understand what you are asking for.

[*toHorse&Away*]

Oh brilliant - glad you had such a great time. Its a bit disconcerting going to a new place a you never know what to expect but hooray! it was a giggle and a blast AND you got to canter without stirrups. So another acheivement!
Haven't done that for years and don't quite feel up to it yet even though everyone says its better than trotting without! :D

[Skib]

Wobbly Deb I am so glad it went OKay for you. You sound to have ridden that cob pretty well.

[Wobblydeb]

Glad you had a good time. Was this your first lesson ever? Oooooh I wish ....LOL...! no, it's taken many years to reach this point :p I'm not naturally sporty :o
It was first lesson at some stables I haven't taken lessons at before.

Its good to hear your instructor asking you questions. You get a lot of them that just direct traffic and dont ask you if you actually understand what you are asking for. Yeah, I suppose she was actually quite good. In my head, even though the lesson was good, I'm not giving the girl enough credit because I've had a brilliant instructor for the past year. But the horses are good, and it costs a darn sight less ;)

AND you got to canter without stirrups. So another acheivement! Haven't done that for years and don't quite feel up to it yet even though everyone says its better than trotting without! Yup, I would agree with them. I was sliding around a bit in trot, but didn't find canter too hard - and I'm the world's worst canterer :p

[Wobblydeb]

p.s. I already know that by Tuesday I will hardly be able to walk... :p

[domane]

I had my first half-hour lesson for twenty years the Thursday before last and I got such cramp in my left ankle that I had to do the last ten minutes without stirrups!!!

Twelve days later and I'm still tweaky in places I had forgotten about!!!
:rolleyes: