First lesson for a couple of weeks on Friday, and I was back to riding RacyTB (no Wrigglycob this week).
We were doing the usual riding a square at walk, and I think I am starting to understand it!
FINALLY I am starting to feel when her back end is shifting under me in response to my legs when we are moving, rather than just when we halt and then do it. Plus I learnt a valuable lesson about what each rein is doing when she started throwing her head around in halt and my instructor made sure I didn't get into a fight. I realised that I hadn't given her enough inside flexion in her neck to step around easily, so as a result she had nowhere to go. Apparently she used to rear when she first arrived, and I can see how an inexperienced rider like me could get into trouble without an instructor to work through stuff like this.
Then later......... the canter!!!! Arghhhhhhhh the dreaded canter!
Luckily she is very forward going, so all I need to do is think canter and we are into it - and according to my instructor I am getting better with the transition
Although I am still having such a fight with my body to stop it tensing up!! When my instructor says "prepare for canter" I have to immediately push my hands forward and my heels down, because by the time she has finished saying it, they've both crept towards my body by 6 inches or so, in a desperate bid to get me into the foetal position
So we got the transitions........ then did a mad dive bomb maneovre across the school in canter, with RacyTB (bless her) convinced that she should be cantering across the short diagonal for a change of rein.....
....... more work on my balance required!
Tried a few more times, consciously shifting my weight to my outside leg, and we were getting there
Next lesson is Friday and I cannot wait to see if some of what I learnt has stuck!
I think I've got my short term aim now - by next spring I would like to be able to confidently sit the canter, travelling in the direction I planned!!!
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