Sunday, 6 May
A lesson in a Sunday morning! Even leaving behind the difficulty in getting up early on a Sunday
, there is always the problem of overcrowded lessons. Today was no exception! All of the privately owned horses were in the class, and on top of these five horses and riders there were eight more students. Thirteen riders in one lesson! Even if we were in the larger arena, it was still nearly impossible to have a decent lesson.
Francisco was busy with a lunge lesson on the covered arena, so Mr. Jorge was the one with us. With a little imagination he managed to turn a doomed lesson in to a productive one (even if there was little technique about it).
We started with the usual warm-up in trot and even tried a couple of circles. With these many riders it quite literally resembled a carousel! After a few minutes of this Mr. Jorge made some changes to the order of the riders. The two more experienced ones were placed in the front and middle of the class. When the order was given the second half of the class, led by one of the "team leaders", did a change of rein while the other half kept on straight. The two teams kept going in different directions a couple more laps, passing by each other at A and C.
From this position we started to make several different types of crossings. Both teams would make a change of rein at the same time, passing interleaved at X. The teams would again make a change of rein, but this time would form up in pairs at X, without crossing each other, separating again at A. The same thing again, but this time only paring up after crossing. Turning inside when along the longer side of the arena, with the teams passing by each other like the teeth of two combs. Another variation was repeating this last exercise, but with everyone turning to the same side just after crossing, forming a line until each team went its own way at C.
The hardest (and funnier) one meant doing a change of rein, but as the teams met interleaved at X, each would do a circle to its side. The two circles had a common point in X, where the riders passed interleaved - resembling two cogged wheels.
The lesson was an interesting one on getting the horses to perform exactly what you wanted - when you wanted it - so that things didn't mess up! Amazingly there was no major screw up, only once did one team leader misunderstand an order, the situation being corrected without difficulties (but providing an excuse for much joking after the lesson). My own difficulty was on keeping Lord - my own ride - to maintain his distance to the horse in front. Lazy as Lord is it was quite a task!
To me the most thrilling moments were when the two teams passed by each other, twice in each lap. At a combined speed of close to thirty kilometres per hour, passing side-by-side with six other horses was impressive!
Pedro Fortunato
Lisbon, Portugal
P.S.: The negative aspect of this lesson was suffered by my bum! Lord's saddle is a killer. The lack of stuffing means that you're basically sitting on the tree - not exactly a pleasant experience in such a demanding lesson. I spent three days unable to sit or raise without wincing!
A lesson in a Sunday morning! Even leaving behind the difficulty in getting up early on a Sunday
, there is always the problem of overcrowded lessons. Today was no exception! All of the privately owned horses were in the class, and on top of these five horses and riders there were eight more students. Thirteen riders in one lesson! Even if we were in the larger arena, it was still nearly impossible to have a decent lesson.Francisco was busy with a lunge lesson on the covered arena, so Mr. Jorge was the one with us. With a little imagination he managed to turn a doomed lesson in to a productive one (even if there was little technique about it).
We started with the usual warm-up in trot and even tried a couple of circles. With these many riders it quite literally resembled a carousel! After a few minutes of this Mr. Jorge made some changes to the order of the riders. The two more experienced ones were placed in the front and middle of the class. When the order was given the second half of the class, led by one of the "team leaders", did a change of rein while the other half kept on straight. The two teams kept going in different directions a couple more laps, passing by each other at A and C.
From this position we started to make several different types of crossings. Both teams would make a change of rein at the same time, passing interleaved at X. The teams would again make a change of rein, but this time would form up in pairs at X, without crossing each other, separating again at A. The same thing again, but this time only paring up after crossing. Turning inside when along the longer side of the arena, with the teams passing by each other like the teeth of two combs. Another variation was repeating this last exercise, but with everyone turning to the same side just after crossing, forming a line until each team went its own way at C.
The hardest (and funnier) one meant doing a change of rein, but as the teams met interleaved at X, each would do a circle to its side. The two circles had a common point in X, where the riders passed interleaved - resembling two cogged wheels.
The lesson was an interesting one on getting the horses to perform exactly what you wanted - when you wanted it - so that things didn't mess up! Amazingly there was no major screw up, only once did one team leader misunderstand an order, the situation being corrected without difficulties (but providing an excuse for much joking after the lesson
). My own difficulty was on keeping Lord - my own ride - to maintain his distance to the horse in front. Lazy as Lord is it was quite a task!To me the most thrilling moments were when the two teams passed by each other, twice in each lap. At a combined speed of close to thirty kilometres per hour, passing side-by-side with six other horses was impressive!
Pedro Fortunato
Lisbon, Portugal
P.S.: The negative aspect of this lesson was suffered by my bum! Lord's saddle is a killer. The lack of stuffing means that you're basically sitting on the tree - not exactly a pleasant experience in such a demanding lesson. I spent three days unable to sit or raise without wincing
!