A long rambling speil about life and my fifth lesson - oh and some questions
Hello all
Lesson five complete - no hangover this time. I was all focus. Sadly I was spared Bob (or visa versa) which was a shame because I wanted to make it up to him for being rubbish last week. Anyway Bob's stand-in, Jasper was a bit taller and certainly broader than Bob.
The lesson was OK. We started doing a bit of stuff without stirrups and then continued with rising trot. The trouble is that I found it difficult to get Jasper to 'go'. I'd get a few paces, or at the most half a circuit before he went back to walk. Is this usual for riding school horses? I guess most of it was my fault though I tried to keep him going with my leg the best I could. Perhaps because he was wider my puny legs were not strong enough to exert the necessary pressure? What do you think? Should I be doing exercises between lessons? What exercises do you though - the muscles used in riding appear to be in strange places. I certainly found it difficult to get a massage there after last weeks lesson.
Anyway I had a glorious sunny hour on a horse so I am not unhappy I just wanted to feel I was progressing but didn't really get enough trot out of Jasper to really tell. I'd be interested to hear any of your experiences of what is normal for riding school horses. I mean, looking at it logically they must get a bit fed up of going around and around with a confused human on their back?
Finally, the horse bug is obviously as strong as ever. Why? Well on the way back from this lesson I couldn't help but daydream about how great it would be to spend longer with them. I even found myself trying to think of how I could retrain in some equine field so that I could eventually give up my career and spend more time with them. As someone who can't even ride properly yet that maybe a bit extreme - however stay tuned. I've done more bizarre things in my life.
Hello all
Lesson five complete - no hangover this time. I was all focus. Sadly I was spared Bob (or visa versa) which was a shame because I wanted to make it up to him for being rubbish last week. Anyway Bob's stand-in, Jasper was a bit taller and certainly broader than Bob.
The lesson was OK. We started doing a bit of stuff without stirrups and then continued with rising trot. The trouble is that I found it difficult to get Jasper to 'go'. I'd get a few paces, or at the most half a circuit before he went back to walk. Is this usual for riding school horses? I guess most of it was my fault though I tried to keep him going with my leg the best I could. Perhaps because he was wider my puny legs were not strong enough to exert the necessary pressure? What do you think? Should I be doing exercises between lessons? What exercises do you though - the muscles used in riding appear to be in strange places. I certainly found it difficult to get a massage there after last weeks lesson.
Anyway I had a glorious sunny hour on a horse so I am not unhappy I just wanted to feel I was progressing but didn't really get enough trot out of Jasper to really tell. I'd be interested to hear any of your experiences of what is normal for riding school horses. I mean, looking at it logically they must get a bit fed up of going around and around with a confused human on their back?
Finally, the horse bug is obviously as strong as ever. Why? Well on the way back from this lesson I couldn't help but daydream about how great it would be to spend longer with them. I even found myself trying to think of how I could retrain in some equine field so that I could eventually give up my career and spend more time with them. As someone who can't even ride properly yet that maybe a bit extreme - however stay tuned. I've done more bizarre things in my life.
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