Rediscovery of a love...

[sebaldthesecond]

Dear All,

My name is Alex, and I have recently resumed riding lessons after a break of about 6/7 years. I am 18 years old and am in my final year at school, currently studying Music, English and History for my A-Levels in the summer. I used to go riding nearby when I was 8/9 but I didn?t really enjoy it, for I was scared, as far as I recall.

My new burst of energy really came from watching Lord of the Rings. I know it is a bit cheap, but when watching the intensely moving scene where Arwen (Liv Tyler) races to the Ford with Frodo, while being pursued by the 9 black riders, I realised what I was missing, and found a stable close to where I am at the moment. I have taken 4 lessons so far (in the space of 5 days) and my last one is gonna happen Monday evening ? that is last one before I go back to school.

I had some general questions for anyone who can spare the time for a brief answer:

What should I be doing with my feet while on the horse? Should I have them stuck in the stirrups or have only the ball on the stirrups or what? I haven?t yet bought boots and at the moment just wear my normal shoes, but when I go into trot my feet tend to slide to the front of the stirrups and I feel that this isn?t necessarily the most natural way of doing things? Any advice?

Once I have learnt walk and trotting, what is the logical progression from there in terms of lessons? I haven?t done any lunge work yet and there is still loads of work to do on my seat and balance etc.. Obviously after only 4 lessons, I am only now getting used to riding again, and I don?t feel as sore as I did after my first lesson (just remembering makes me sore .

How many lessons a week should I have (can one ride too much?)?while I am at school I will probably only be able to manage to ride once a week, but at home I can do more; is it worth it. I would like to, in order to spend more time with the horses etc., but maybe it is not advisable etc.?

On specific riding schools, I was wondering if anybody in the North Yorkshire area could recommend a good riding school near Helmsley (or even near my school in Ampleforth)? I looked on the search thing on this site, but it was hard to tell what was where, if you know what I mean.

Should I try and ride different horses or should I stick to the same one? I was placed on a horse called Dee Dee, who is wonderfully calm and has never put a hoof out of place in her life, but I am wondering whether it would be better to do something else?

Well, I think that is it, and as it is getting late now (4 am) I will try and get some sleep, but if any of you have any advice before my ?final? lesson on Monday that would be great.

Many thanks,

Alex

[BlueSky]

Congratulations on your starting riding again, and I hope you enjoy it!
It's correct to keep just the ball of your feet in the stirrups, and try and keep your heels down (easier said than done I'm afraid )
After you've done the basics of walk and trot, then usually you focus on getting a better seat and balance in those two paces, and also learning to be light yet firm with your hands.
I would say as many lessons as you can afford!! Seriously though, ideally one or two a week, but more or less if you feel you need more, or less!!
I can't help you with the riding schools, I'm afraid. =/
And as for riding different horses, once you feel confident on DeeDee, then you could think about asking to ride a different horse.
Hope I helped.

[sebaldthesecond]

Thanks for your comments, they helped clarify things for me. Have just got back from my lesson. I was on a different horse called Ginger and it was indeed very different (and difficult). He was extremely stubborn, and had a tendency to hold his head down whilst trotting (as in brushing the ground down), which made me anxious and I didn't know whether to pull his head back up (because that would also make him think I wanted to stop) or just carry on or what. It all amounted to a very difficult lesson, and a timely reminder that all horses are individuals. Tomorrow I go back to school, where my access to riding is strictly limited, which is so annoying!

Alex

[snuggly_elf]

hey there Alex,
glad to hear you've come back round to the idea of riding. And what a great way to be inspired! I always feel like going out for a gallop with friends after seeing scenes like the one that you mentioned.
As to your questions, I think that you should stick to the same horse for the time being. When you feel confident in walk and trot and canter then move onto diffrent horses. It is good to ride lots of diffrent types of horse and pony (don't forget ponies, they may be small but they have huge characters!) so you know that you can ride anything. Is that not thwe type of rider that we all want to be? Being able to get the best out of any horse were put on. (personally I'm a chicken when it comes to the highly strung animals!)