breakthrough for teacup!!!!!!!!!!!

[girl ina teacup]

hello everyone,im new on here thought id say hi!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i just wanted to shout out to the world that i had a BREAKTHROUGH trotting lesson today!!!!! it was my fourth lesson and i managed to trot around the manege all on my own unassisted whilst steering with my reins and not holding on to my saddle!!!!!!!!!!woooooooooooooooooooo
i got so excited that i booked myself an hour lesson next week,i cant wait,i bet i will be nackered!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also does anyone have any tips about maintaining trot as i found it quite challenging to keep the horse at the same speed as my legs arent strong enough yet!!!do you reccomend a whip??? love from girl ina teacup!!!!

[makebelieve]

Congrats, first off!

To keep the horse at the same speed, you want to apply constant pressure. If you're just kicking her as you're going around the ring, you're not teaching yourself anything, nor are you teaching the horse anything. It takes a while, but remember to squeeze with your lower leg. By whip, do you mean a crop? You might want to ask your instructor for one, but only at their discretion. You never want to 'whip' your horse to get it moving. That's never the way to go about things, and it doesn't fix problems.

Have fun next week.

[horse_converted]

hello and welcome to NR! . i recomend a wip as well. but u get more responce from your leg the wip is just a secondary to your leg. i have found to that if u just sqeeze the horse u get more resbonce from the horse is what i was tought by my RI that they go dead to kicking and ignore it. sounds like u are having great fun though with it all though. look forward to hearing more about your lessons as they go along. good luck with your next lesson

[rainbowangel]

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!! im so pleased for you, i cant wait to finally find my rythm i think it will come next week as iwas much stronger this week!!!! you will be buying your own horse next hahaha lots of love rainbow

[*Sez*]

Well done on your achievement! You've caught on very quickly! I used to teach kids who had been riding for months and were still not comfortable enough to be able to trot and steer unassisted.

As far as your query about using a whip, personally, I dislike novice riders to get their hands on crops or schooling whips - I have seen a lot of people become very reliant on them, when there's really very little need.

When you "sit" in the trot, apply pressure then, and release to rise. The whole movement becomes a sit-and-squeeze and keeps the impulsion going. I agree that kicking constantly causes your horse to become dead to the leg aid, but releasing the pressure and then re-applying should keep his mind on what you're asking for. If you're still sitting to the trot anyway rather than posting, then feel for the moment that the inside foreleg goes forward (when you would sit if you were posting), or ask your RI if you are struggling to get a feel for it, and push on then.

If your instructor does feel that you need a stick to keep the impulsion, use it only as a back up to the leg aid, e.g. if the horse doesn't listen to a squeeze, go for a firmer kick, and if there's still no response, then you tap with the crop behind your leg. Ask, tell, insist. I had quiet words with a young girl at the weekend who mounted her pony outside his stable and then cracked him over the backside as soon as she was in the saddle when all the poor thing had done was stand nicely for her to get on . She claimed it was to "wake him up".

Good on you, and good luck for your next session!