elise
24th Feb 2006, 05:34 PM
Just some thoughts on my last two jumping lessons.
I think my instructor was tired of watching us hurdle over single fences. The last two lessons she set up a 4 jump course for my class. The first class went less well than I had hoped. I was put on the short, round, bouncy Arab, Holiday. He's good for a rising trot but anything else and you're in for it. We did one jump at a time to get the feel and learn the directions. The goal was to trot over the jumps. Holiday had other plans. He'd walk or trot up to the jump, then two strides away he'd take off like a rocket, leaving me no time to prepare for something other than a trot over a jump. Yeesh. I was a little disappointed after that class because there was just no way to get a good feel for any of it.
Now this week's lesson was a different story. She changed up the jumps a bit.
1. 4 trot poles
2. low cross pole
3. 1ft vertical
4. 2ft vertical
And I was back on Sadie the TB. She was very calm until the last jump. There's a big straight-away before it and she'd rev it up. To me it felt like she was completely spazzing. Which another horse had decided to do before the jump to another rider, just barreling towards it nostrils flairing. So while this other rider was instructed to stay in her seat and collect the horse, I figured that was my job as well. Apparently the speed from on top the horse is quite a bit different than from on the ground because as I'm getting ready to ask her to collect, the instructors telling me to "let her go, she's not going too fast!" So she leaps over the fence and then she's all wound up and ready to go. I can never quite reel her in when she gets like that. Anyways, we jumped the "big" jump 3 times. My middle jump was almost acceptable.
Though I am finding, after doing quite a bit of riding of some of the theraepuetic horses and actually staying on when they'd buck, or even riding my own horses bareback, that when I went over the small vertical and lost my stirrup, I don't panic and just ride the horse until I can get my foot back in. So even if my jumping isn't real swell, I think my riding is still improving noticably, I just gotta look for it!
Who said you couldn't teach an old dog new tricks?!
I can't wait for summer when it's light out and we can ride outside. I will be enlisting my boyfriend who's a photographer to teach himself how to shoot jumpers!
I think my instructor was tired of watching us hurdle over single fences. The last two lessons she set up a 4 jump course for my class. The first class went less well than I had hoped. I was put on the short, round, bouncy Arab, Holiday. He's good for a rising trot but anything else and you're in for it. We did one jump at a time to get the feel and learn the directions. The goal was to trot over the jumps. Holiday had other plans. He'd walk or trot up to the jump, then two strides away he'd take off like a rocket, leaving me no time to prepare for something other than a trot over a jump. Yeesh. I was a little disappointed after that class because there was just no way to get a good feel for any of it.
Now this week's lesson was a different story. She changed up the jumps a bit.
1. 4 trot poles
2. low cross pole
3. 1ft vertical
4. 2ft vertical
And I was back on Sadie the TB. She was very calm until the last jump. There's a big straight-away before it and she'd rev it up. To me it felt like she was completely spazzing. Which another horse had decided to do before the jump to another rider, just barreling towards it nostrils flairing. So while this other rider was instructed to stay in her seat and collect the horse, I figured that was my job as well. Apparently the speed from on top the horse is quite a bit different than from on the ground because as I'm getting ready to ask her to collect, the instructors telling me to "let her go, she's not going too fast!" So she leaps over the fence and then she's all wound up and ready to go. I can never quite reel her in when she gets like that. Anyways, we jumped the "big" jump 3 times. My middle jump was almost acceptable.
Though I am finding, after doing quite a bit of riding of some of the theraepuetic horses and actually staying on when they'd buck, or even riding my own horses bareback, that when I went over the small vertical and lost my stirrup, I don't panic and just ride the horse until I can get my foot back in. So even if my jumping isn't real swell, I think my riding is still improving noticably, I just gotta look for it!
Who said you couldn't teach an old dog new tricks?!
I can't wait for summer when it's light out and we can ride outside. I will be enlisting my boyfriend who's a photographer to teach himself how to shoot jumpers!