squeeze cluck stick

My lesson ended up being a solo one because of cancellations during the holidays. I rode Tank, who would love to go as slowly as possible if I let him. I did let him, as it turns out, until D told me to use the stick with a little more force. The truth is, I know I'm supposed to let him have it if he isn't responding, but he isn't my horse and I always feel with the lesson horses that I should get permission first. As silly as it sounds, politeness is a tough habit to break.

There's always something that is left unsolved by the end of my lessons, and that day it was keeping Tank from breaking the canter while I was in half-seat position. When I'm sitting the canter, I can keep my leg on him to make sure he keeps going. My leg is not as secure in the half seat. Something I will have to think about. Any suggestions would be helpful!

Straight lines are hard

This past lesson we worked on going down the center line and just off the rail perfectly straight. It was pretty hard, especially when the pony just wants to go where he thinks he's supposed to go - on the rail. D was pretty tough on us and even caught me posting on the wrong diagonal for one second transitioning down from the canter. As she pointed out, at my level, that shouldn't happen. Fair enough! Our lessons are definitely progressing towards jumping, with the center line work supposed to prepare us for lines towards jumps...down the center line. I guess that's pretty obvious, but sometimes I feel like I'll never get to do jumping lessons because a couple people in my group lesson are a little behind me on some things. Still, if D can catch me doing something wrong, then there's still work to be done.

The day before, I got to practice ride Calvin while the high school team was practicing around me. It was tons of fun to watch. They kept mentioning that I could "Jumping right in and use a jump if I wanted." That would have been soooo awkward. I'm sure they think I can pop over jumps like it's no big deal, but that is not the case. I have been wondering if I should get a lesson with Calvin's trainer, as sometimes she does lessons during the week and I will be working from home these next couple of weeks. I feel like I'm progressing much faster with the added practice ride. I have become more confident riding with other people in the ring and don't feel like cantering by myself is so scary. Some things I need to work on:

- Not letting horse/pony break the canter when they feel like they can get away with it
- Not letting Calvin fall in and trot like a mad man instead of immediately going into the canter
- Smoothing out downward transition so I'm not bouncing around to prevent any posting on the incorrect diagnol

Wait...'leg on' actually works?!

I had a lesson with what appeared to be 14 year old twins on Sunday and it was pretty fun. They were around my ability in a lot of ways. I was on Chance and you've heard me complain before that he falls in on the right rein. Well, not any more, folks! I finally keep my leg in the correct spot to funnel him along that rail like he's supposed to. So that's settled.

Okay, new problem. As we got further into the lesson (9am, Sunday) his energy started to increase (he's young and happy) to the point where trying to keep him at the walk required a LOT of half halts. We ended up going bareback at the end so that I could learn to keep my butt in the saddle and relax when he does that and, low and behold, he was walking around just fine. It's kind of nice to be faced with a problem and immediately know the solution you need to work towards (relaxed seat), so hopefully I can ride him again this week and correct that.

Tomorrow I'm going to ride Calvin and then lesson again on Sunday. We are going to see a show with our families on Sunday and I didn't have much on Saturday so I'm actually spreading out my two barns over two days. What a luxury! I really love the flexibility I have to ride Calvin. It's such an unusual set up that I wont be taking for granted.

Practice ride on Calvin - getting to normal

Calvin and I bonded a little on Sunday during my practice ride. I didn't have a lesson that day because the lesson barn was hosting a show. So I spent a good amount of time on Calvin. He is really awesome. I had a feeling he would be awesome, but he's learning and I'm learning so I was going on instinct. In the past month, he has come so far. He trips less, he's in better shape, he has this awesome walk to canter transition that's super smooth. I got him to trot to canter one way and had to struggle a bit to get it the other way, but that's not unique to him. The trainer said she was really happy with how things were progressing with him. He got tired near the end and tried to head over to the gate, but I eventually convinced him not to by pre-empting the behavior and than rewarding him. I wanted to go over a foot-high cavaletti, but no one was watching me at the time so I figured I'd play it safe. We went over some ground poles without a problem.

I'm really hoping the weather is reasonable this winter so that I can keep up these practice rides. Last year was crazy, but you never know with New England (and el nino)!

Cantering over cavaletti and canter to trot transitions

Cantering over a ground pole and foot-high cavaletti is old news now, guys. You can pretty much expect me at the Olympics tomorrow.

JOKES ON JOKES. The Olympics aren't happening tomorrow.

Went to a group lesson Wednesday and we worked up to cantering foot-high cavaletti. I think I used to call that a jump, it doesn't even feel like a jump to me anymore. Maybe because I'm finally in the correct position so it just feels like gliding. Also, I was riding this awesome pony that would do anything, with or without my help, perfectly.

On Sunday I had a semi-private with someone I was a little more advanced than (those exist?!). We started with no stirrups and I really need to get better at posting trot without stirrups, I'm barely coming out of the saddle at all before losing my position.

We did transitions and Danielle was overly complimentary on my canter to trot. I still have to work on keeping my elbows at my sides and also figuring out how to stay out of people's way when sharing a ring. I had to canter past a couple people who were backing a horse for the first time, and I was on Chance, and we were going the direction he likes to fall in on. It's always when I know it's a really bad idea to fall in that I get my focus together and stay on the rail.

I'd like to know if I'm sitting back for the canter more now than I was in that little video of me. And I'm trying not to have my leg swung so back for the canter. I didn't realize how obvious it was! I'd rather not see a video of myself posting trot without stirrups. I know that's terrible without seeing it.

WTC Transitions

Guess what was easier than explaining what my lesson consisted of today? THIS FABULOUS PROFESSIONAL-GRADE DIAGRAM. I worked on transitions on Chance. I did a figure eight cutting across the ring between ground poles.  That little white circle at E represents D, who was standing there to make sure I got as close to her as possible without cutting the corner. It was hard to do! I need to work on getting Chance straight during the walk portion and then bending him correctly into the direction we are going to canter. I also had my stirrups a little shorter than usual and it caused me to put too much weight in them when cantering, which is no excuse, and in fact prompted us to focus on me sitting back and wrapping my legs around the horse better. This confused me because I had been taught to avoid letting Chance fall in by partially putting weight into my outside stirrup. That's probably cheating. I'm gathering the more 'correct' way to do it would be to push him out with my inside leg and adjust the weight in my seat. Bet let me know if you hear differently.

I didn't get to ride Calvin today because I had to some family obligations :(

Cantering a crossrail

So I have a confession to make. My instructor at my lesson barn might not exactly know about my rides at my second barn.

Oopsie.

The truth is, they didn't give me an option to ride outside of lessons unless I wanted to pay $900 a month (you saw that right), so I very discreetly go down the street to pay $40 to ride to my heart's content, whenever I want to. I'm not really sorry. I just figured she'd think it was kind of odd. Someday, I will tell her.

But I don't really feel guilty because it's been working out amazingly.

At my lesson, now on Sunday mornings, I got one-on-one attention for a half-hour. We worked on circling to warm up Chewie (yay, back on Chewie!) and for me to focus on bending at every turn. We then worked on counting strides. Yes, I can count each separate stride. But then, if she asked me to do exactly 7 strides, it was hard for me to transition to a trot at exactly 7. Something to work on. I also do a bad job of getting my seat firmly back in the saddle to transition down. D calls it water skiing, when your weight is in your stirrups and you're holding on to the reins to slow down. When she puts it that way, I feel bad about it. I don't want to just pull on the reins!

After my lesson I got to do a little mini trail ride around the paddocks on Chewie and then put him away. I had an hour in-between to eat a breakfast sandwich (one of my favorite foods) and then I showed up at the second barn to ride in the outside ring. The trainer who belongs to Calvin actually stayed and watched me ride, I think just for safety reasons. It's always kind of a sweet deal when that happens because trainers can't help but put in an idea or two. She said she liked how I ride Calvin "very forward" since mostly he gets beginner-beginners who just kind of kick and pull (after my pulling from canter to trot on Chewie, that made me feel better). I had some trouble getting Calvin to canter tracking right, but left was no problem. I trotted over a cross rail and the trainer pointed out that Calvin needed to be a little more forward or he doesn't do a good job over fences, so why don't I canter it?

Whelp, never done that before, but sure, why not.

We cantered tracking left, turned down the centerline and popped over the cross rail. I'm sure the equitation was terrible, and Calvin and I just kind of settled down to a trot right after because I was disorganized. But we made it over!

After that, I promptly called it a day and cooled Calvin down. It really takes energy out of you to try new things!

The two-barn tango

This Sunday, I pulled off going to two barns. I went to my lesson barn first and did a group lesson with a couple girls that must have been 13. They were at about the same level as me in riding, although based on their complaints about algebra, I feel like I may have a leg up on other things. Not that it's a competition.

I was riding a pretty grey that acts like a big puppy, named Cesar. For our lesson we formed a ride on the rail and would either pass each other at the trot or canter a large circle from the front of the ride to the back, all while maintaining the same exact distance between each other. We weren't allowed to circle to keep our distance so I had to go deep into corners to keep my distance on my energetic 15hh horse behind a wee pony.

After putting Cesar away, I headed down the road a mile or so to the second barn to ride Calvin. Everyone at the barn is really nice. Calvin is skinny and has some scars from his previous life. The trainer isn't exactly sure of his age, but he's young. He might be just 17 hands, maybe not even, but he seems huge to me because of the lesson ponies. The two-step mounting block requires me to hoist myself up on him. The trainer who lets me ride him was standing with me while I groomed him and we witnessed an owner bring her horse through with chains on his bell boots. One of the girls said it was for saddleseat. When I went into the arena, the owner was pulling off a very high trot and a halt with the bag legs stretched way back. It's interesting to me that it's English style riding, but has developed further in the US.

I walked Calvin around for a while before practicing. When I first started learning to ride, I did get to practice ride a few times by myself, but it was still a strange feeling when I was alone in the indoor! I did a serpentine at the walk, worked on two-point at the trot and worked on cantering without falling in or cutting corners. Calvin tripped a few times at the trot, which my novice riding probably doesn't help. I need to make sure I'm not leaning forward at the canter so I don't throw him off balance. He also tripped his back legs at the trot, which was this weird sort of lurching back feeling. I might have to ask about stumbling horses, because the only remedy I know is to blame the rider, and while I'm sure 110 pounds in the wrong place can throw Calvin off, I'm not sure it should be this frequent.

Introducing...Practice rides!

The barn down the street from the one I lesson at is allowing me to practice ride on a young horse (I think five?) named Calvin! The barn manager will keep an eye on me, but really just leave me to work on what my instructor, D asks me to focus on. I really enjoyed my evaluation lesson to find the right horse - I actually ended up only trying one because Calvin was so intriguing to me. He's young so he has a short attention span that the BM is looking forward to me working on (we see it as a win-win). He also has a really bouncy trot - At first I thought to myself, will this not be a good horse for me to learn my sitting trot on? But then I realized - BIGGER challenges are good! Sit his trot and I can sit any, seriously. Even sitting a beat before canter was bouncy.

The other thing I like about him is he has a really smooth jump. I mean, we only went over a cross rail, so he didn't jump, but I'm TOLD he's smooth and I also didn't feel him jump over that crossrail at all. He tripped badly at one point (he's still learning how to not be an awkward teenager) and I didn't feel like I was going to fall off." I guess, to summarize, feeling confident on a horse that hasn't gotten it all figured out yet is a great feeling!

My bf came with me and so I had the rare treat of getting footage! I'm sorry if it's cringeworthy - I am a beginner after all! I took one look and thought, "Does my foot need to be that far back to keep him going? Why can't I sit back more?"

...Which I guess is the point of videoing yourself!

I did another group lesson yesterday and am realizing it takes a lot of skill to ride different horses and anticipate when they're going to go off course. For example, we were all trotting in a circle doing a game called "Carousel" - you pick a partner and trot exactly across from them while not getting too close or behind the person in front or behind you. And we were supposed to depart from the circle one at a time, canter around the ring and fit back into the circle with perfect timing. But when I left to canter, Pan just started cantering back towards towards the circle (Basically cantered a wide circle and tried to rejoin the herd). I need to be 110% focused on where I want to go so the pony doesn't see an opening.

I also need to learn to sit back during the sitting trot. Add that to sitting back at the canter. And probably just sit back in life. Oy.

Posting without stirrup(s)

I joined the awesome 1-hour group lesson again because I had work-overload on Tuesday. It was basically bootcamp! I rode Pan, the short-stirrup superstar who does anything you ask. We had to do bicycles with our legs out of the stirrup for warm-up. Then we:

• With feet out of stirrups, lifted knees up and kicked outwards and then left our legs dropped in a controlled motion. D says this puts our seat in the right place in the saddle
• Put one foot in the stirrup and kept one out and posted at the trot. This is done in both directions for each side. It's not only a workout, but supposed to teach you to not rely on the stirrups for balance. The more difficult side is the one you rely on too much.
• Posted with out stirrups, also at different beats (up two, down one)
• Got into jumping position without stirrups at the trot
• Collapsed in exhaustion

I had a lot of trouble with no-stirrup posting - I would scoot the stirrup-less knee up only to have it slip down. I think I just need to be exposed to it more!

I missed a trot to canter transition once, I think I wasn't sitting back properly. Other than that, trot to canter back to trot and down to walk are really coming along! But then, Pan is so push-button, don't know how much credit I can take.

I have some exciting news! One is that my old barn invited me to come to a Fun Show down there on one of the horses I used to ride! It will be sort of a production to get down there but well worth it!

And even more exciting news! I found a trainer with horses who offers very affordable partial leases that could allow me to do weekend rides! 50% of the battle was sending an email that showed I had thought the whole thing out. I mentioned how I am committed to my lesson barn (named barn and trainer for reference), but they didn't have opportunities for practice rides, and I would love to do an evaluation lesson to prove I am capable of leasing. I have an eval half-hour lesson on Saturday and will meet the horses they have available! Trying not to get my hopes up too much, but this trainer rents out stalls at a reputable barn so I'm pretty optimistic! Also, the eval lesson is, like $20 cheaper than my typical lessons, so if there is a horse that fits, I can feel confident about future affordable opportunities with this trainer!

Half seat's half-way there

Yesterday's lesson was on Pan, another special champion pony. I really appreciate how all the horses at this barn have amazing show records. Anyways, Pan likes to fall in...to the right! Yay, Pan, you are different from the other two ponies that fall in to the left! I was doing a terrible job of combatting it, because as much as my head understands it, my body refuses to believe that keeping my right elbow where it's supposed to be with feel of the bit will and closing the right rein will keep Pan from falling in if I use right leg as needed and open the left rein a bit. It just seems so counter-intuitive! Finally, a barn dog ran into the ring and upset Pan a little bit and Danielle made me turn us around and do the long side over, being extra insistent he trot past the trouble spot. It was the importance placed on the task that convinced me to do it.

And with that, we were free to work on my half seat. It's not good, guys. And the little ponies really show that, as Danielle pointed out, because there isn't much to hold on to. I'm frustrated because I only have so much time to practice. I talked to Danielle about getting extra rides in, but there's no space for any sort of rides on Saturday for me. My only option would be a half lease and they are way to expensive at this barn. I'm going to stew on this, and in the meantime, do some serious ab exercises to stablize my core. It's the only thing I can think of to work on half seat when I'm out of the saddle!

Falling In: A Work in Progress

Yesterday, I got to ride this really sweet 20-something pony named Jo that was MAYBE 14hh and was once legendary in the short-stirrup hunters (rumor has it, she occasionally comes out of retirement to sneak-attack a win at local shows).

Joy is not a complicated a ride, but she falls in to the left all. the. time. Walk, trot, canter, it doesn't matter, why go straight when you can have diagonal swag? I did serpentines at the trot (I was going A to V to B to S and then along the rail back) and I kept missing the mark at B because she would fall to the left. I was told going from V to B that I should be able to see her left eye, which only confused me more, doesn't seeing her left eye mean she's turning left even more?! But keeping my left leg on was supposed to prevent that.

Joy was also good at teaching you that you can't rely on your reins for stearing. If you pull on the right rein, she'll go left, because to her that means you are closing the right rein. I had to bring my left elbow back so that she wouldn't fall in to the left, but it felt to me like I was asking her to turn left. Not the case, once I trusted D's advice, I felt her butt swing right when I brought my left elbow back. Keeping my left leg on and my left elbow back allowed me to finally go from V to B able to see her eye and hit the target.

A work in progress! I also got my own riding crop. I was skeptical because it was a little longer than what I wanted, but I choked up on it and actually found it helped me to use it when I needed (I was pretty whimpy with the crop and this was just easier to use because I didn't have to move my hand back as much. It's the Fleck Soft Grip Crop in case you are curious - it's the only one they had at SmartPak that wasn't sparkly...I also got treats and am finding having an arsenal of treats is pretty awesome for showing lesson ponies love.

First bareback ride evahhhh

No, I don't have a Boston accent, being from a rather waspy suburb, but I threw it on the end of this title for emphasis. I had a group lesson yesteday for my make-up and started on Chewie, but then switched to Blake. Blake is like a larger version of the young quarter pony Chance. He is wiggly, but he's also got a lot of...animation?... to his gates. He walks a mile a minute, and has the bounciest trot and canter. But he means well and would never hurt anyone.


Here's a run down of the activities:

Straightness exercise: Started this exercise at a trot. 2 groundpoles are set up to guide you straight down the midline towards D, who would at the last minute point left or right for you to continue down the longside and loop back. Not only did this work on straightness (it was obvious when Blake drifted right and I also couldn't anticipate a turn and cut a corner), but also communication in the ring, since people ended up going in different directions and approaching the turn to the midline at the same time.

Then we did the same exercise, but this time, people who were told to go left (or later, right) had to canter going into their turn. At which point I learned that Blake canters like a larger, more powerful version of Chance and will just fall in into a collapsing doom-spiral. I didn't get enough of a chance to correct myself on that one, but maybe another time I ride him.

The lesson ended with 15 minutes riding bareback, which I'd never done before. It was so awesome feeling the horse's movements under you! D gave permission to everyone except me to try trotting (she said it was because Blake is too bouncy, but I think it was partially that and partially my inexperience). Only one person attempted it, though. By the end of the walk, I kind of wanted to try, but I let the experience end there (what's the worst that could happen if I garb a little mane, right?!). Blake's pasterns and hoofs need to be kept really clean, so I was instructed after the lesson to scrub the socks until they turned pink. I love taking care of the horses, but it really empahsized how much work goes into being a groom or owner!

The other riders in this group had been riding longer, but were solid once-a-week lesson ladies, so they were kind of cool to connect with. One had been riding weekly for 9 years at this same barn and done the trip to Iceland and ridden the Icelandic ponies. Another had been riding for 4 years off and on through injuries. I asked if they did practice rides, but they said they don't. I'm sort of curious to ask if D thinks I'm ready for the occasional Saturday practice ride. I suppose it depended on what horse and how busy the ring was! I could, at least, let her know that it's a goal of mine.

Standing at the canter fixed my jumping seat!

Yesterday's lesson was pretty fun since it almost completely entailed standing at the trot and canter. When I was getting into two-point, or jumping position, previously, I was leaning over too much. D had me get straight up out of the saddle at the trot, then lower myself but not actually sit down - what she calls the "hovering posting trot" so that I could get used to how my hips are supposed to feel as I open them. It took me a few tries both ways to get standing at the canter, but suddenly it felt much easier to balance! At which point going over a ground pole was just a small psychological addition to the challenge.

I got to ride Colonel today, who is everyone's favorite because he's so easy going. With him, it was really important to keep my reins short and keep his stride in check because he stretches out more and more as he canters around the ring.

One thing I do need to work on is my common sense when sharing the ring with others who are doing totally different things. I was on the rail cantering clockwise around the ring and someone was cantering counterclockwise on a 20m circle and we met as I was coming off the short side. I was thinking left shoulder to left shoulder, but I guess since she was circling and I wasn't it would have made more sense for her to cut in. In any case, I got confused, we both ended up trotting, and she got the brunt of the teasing because she was a more advanced rider and was "supposed to help me" :) I thanked her later for nothing in particular other than taking the blame.

Halt! Or, How To Be A Square

This week's lesson was also focused on transitions, but this time it involved trotting, getting the canter in a specific spot, going over a ground pole at the canter while standing up in my stirrups, and then coming to a halt with all four legs square. Since this is also a dressage barn we have nice mirrors to let me know how terrible I am at this. You're not supposed to see all four legs in the mirror with a good, square halt, but every time we came to a stop, Chance's left back leg was splayed out a little. It got a little better, but only because I was over-compensating on the right side to to keep him from falling out through the right shoulder. I'm not sure if becoming a being a great rider means not having to over-compensate, or knowing exactly when to overcompensate :)

Oh, and D's solution to getting me better and my downward transition from a canter to a halt was to simply stand in my way so I would have to halt in front of her instead of knocking her down. That got me to learn it pretty quickly.

By the way, standing up in my stirrups is hard! It's not two-point. It's standing straight up. It's either leg swings back or forward. I have to grab some mane to stay somewhat balanced, but I still crumple a little bit.

The ups and downs: working on transitions

I think we've all had those lessons where we are a little disappointed that we couldn't get the horse to canter, the pony spooked and was distracted the rest of the lesson, etc. etc. My lesson with D was running a little late (she's got them back to back and would never rush anyone, so I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often!) so I got to watch the dressage lesson that goes on simultaneously. I think I've mentioned this group before, they are all seasoned riders (hunter/jumper most likely) who seem to be new to dressage. So much of what the instructor is talking about goes over my head. She usually tells one rider to do something differently (that I can't see) and the rider gets it (but I can't see that) and she goes, "Do you feel that?! Much better!" (What? Feel what?!)...In any case, hopefully with time I will be a better observer. Until then, it's still interesting to see what better riders look like! But back to my point. There were a couple riders who were disappointed with their mounts. One lamented that she felt like she will never get to canter. She had, sort of...a bad attitude! I think we spend so much time waiting to get into the saddle (and so much money, sigh) that if it doesn't go well, it's really easy to get down on it. But, no matter what, a bad attitude is not a good look. It might have made more sense to wait until the end of the lesson and take the instructor to the side and ask what she could have done better, if maybe she could have a try on a different horse next time or whether it was in her best interest to keep trying to figure this horse out. Like I said, this was a more experienced rider than me, but in a previous life she had her own horse, so I'm wondering if there are somethings that are new to her, too!

Ok, now about transitions. My lesson was just focusing on transitions. To the point where D told me to ignore any bad riding I was doing when actually in the canter, trot, etc. We really focused on "revving in the engine" - getting energy stored up through half halts to really GO in upwards transitions (not so much speed-wise as response-wise). Downward transitions, I was a little troublesome going from trot to walk. I was riding Chance, the youngster, and he was all amp'd up near the end of my lesson (which was, ironically, because he hadn't had his dinner yet) so getting him down to a walk required planning ahead. Everything required planning ahead in transitions, which is something it's taking me a while to learn. Also, the downside to just focusing on transitions was my steering was bonkers (would have been easier to be a lunge lesson!). There was an obstacle that we kept almost barreling through because I would fixate on it, thinking, "Don't go into the obstacle!" but really my body was saying, "to the obstacle! Tally ho!"

Stretches for getting out of the saddle

I saw an adult beginner struggle to get out of the saddle after a lesson and man, could I sympathize! Sometimes I find my self doing a little leg flapping to loosen up before swinging my leg out. It’s partly to blame on the desk job, but the running stiffens me up, too.

I studied public health in grad school and can't help but break down these types of problems. So, here it is:

The muscles that are tight are likely the right quadricep and the right iliopsoa (one of the major hip flexors) because swinging your leg out requires swinging to the side (hip flexors) and back (quadriceps). It might also make sense to have a looser left hamstring. Obviously, you wouldn't just do stretches on one side! You should repeat each stretch for each leg.

To stretch the quadriceps, start with the standard "stand on one leg, bend at the knee and hold your foot" stretch. To make this stretch meaningful, I've found it helpful to focus on dropping your weight into the knee of the bent leg. It may help to hold onto something with your other hand to really do this. Focusing too much on balancing can distract from getting a good stretch. If you want to take it a step further, you can get in a lunge position, drop the knee to the ground and grab the foot. This will allow you to also stretch your hip flexors. After sitting in that stretch, you can grab opposite knee with opposite hand and twist for added hip flexor stretch (see picture below).

Photo credit: www.popsugar.com

My personal favorite way to stretch the hip flexors is leg swings. Holding onto the top of a chair, you can swing each leg left to right to get things loose and warm.

Leg swings. Photo credit: Www.womenshealthmag.com

To stretch the hamstrings (along with your hip flexors), sitting down and sitting down and spreading your legs out and reaching for your right toes, middle, left toes works well. You can loop a theraband around your foot and lie down, and pull your foot up, too.

 Photo credit: www.athletiek.com

Photo credit: www.brighton90210.com

If you’re like me, you don’t have time to do these stretches before the lesson, but doing them in the morning is worth your time. Definitely, doing these stretches after a run is also important so you don’t get sore and stiff!

Firsts: Hand gallop and ground poles course

Someday I'd like to look back on this blog and think it'll answer other beginners' questions on how they can expect to progress in lessons. That's always the question in the back of my mind between lessons - "What will my instructor give me next and when will I get to do XY and Z?"

I thought I would get to try going over a little jump yesterday, but my instructor wanted me to feel really comfortable at the canter, standing up in stirrups and everything. Her solution was to have me go beyond the canter and hand gallop! Granted, I was on good old Chewie (the biter with grazing reins) and although he's pretty naughty, he's very safe for a first hand gallop. We had the ring to ourselves since it was a make-up lesson. As I described it to my boyfriend, it felt like I was driving a mini-jet around the ring! Amazing!

We also tried a standing still to canter transition. I'd never done it before, but it was no problem because Chewie's kind of a rock star with his willingness to canter.

After that, D set up 5 ground poles and explained a course to me and how to memorize it. The terms I learned were:

Line: 2+ jumps in a row
Single: One jump
Outside: jumps along the rail
Diagonal: jumps set up on diagonal lines
Up: Going away from the in-gate
Down: Going toward the in-gate

The first course was outside single up, diagonal down, outside double up, trot all the way around the perimeter and finish with diagonal up. (Or something like that)

The second course involved a bending line, which I did totally wrong, and she explained it was more like two lines. She also explained how it can be easier to remember a course by abbreviating, and sometimes just knowing the first jump is enough to figure out what makes sense for the rest of the course.

Then she went into some details about what a hunter course would look like (lots of pretty lines, using the rail) versus a jumper course (efficient turns) versus equitation (uhh...similar to hunter? I forget).

As you can tell, my memory is not perfect with my lessons. I should probably write stuff down right after, especially since I only ride once a week and am apt to forget things.

I should point out that the lesson didn't end perfectly even though I woke up this morning feel stoked about it overall. By the end of the lesson Chewie's will power increased and mine waned so that going through that last course, he would flat out stop abruptly (I probably could have anticipated that and willed him on better), or when starting the course by trotting a warm-up circle, he would wobble all over the place...

Therefore, things I need to work on:

• When Chewie is trying to get out of going straight, he gets wiggly, and then I get wiggly to try to correct him, when really I need to have a firm seat and close off any openings for where he can go with my legs and reins.
• When warming up with him, I need to establish my authority with some walk to halt transitions and look for a burst of energy into the trot to know he's listening.
• For the course, I need to not turn too soon (I think my perception is off on this) to get the correct line to the trot pole. Planning ahead and finding a spot on the wall that is inline helps.

One last exciting thing! D asked if I had my own riding crop. I always use the ones at the barn. We have two indoors so sometimes I have to go hunting around for one in the dirt, by the stalls. You guys, this is going to sound really materialistic but I am so FREAKIN excited to go buy my own crop. Any opportunity (re: excuse) to buy something from Dover/Smartpak/local tack shop gets me amped! Was also thinking of getting some treats for the horses since that has been ok'd. So excited!

A quick note on owning a horse

I was talking to my instructor last night after our lesson and asked her if she had any horses of her own. To my surprise, she did not. She told me she'd had a horse since she was 11 and was sort of taking a break from ownership. She plans to lease a horse in the spring. There are plenty of reasons to NOT own a horse - the costs, the short- and long-term time commitments, the cost, the cost...But I'd always assumed that the really good riders naturally felt the need to own their own horses to train and show with. My instructor seems pretty content showing the lesson horses, which makes me believe that I will get pretty far in life doing the same. Our barn has Pony Club, which allows 2 lessons and a free ride each week, all on the same horse throughout a season. Someday I might opt into that. And I would consider half-leasing at some point if it was a low level of responsibility. I don't see myself owning unless I had an affordable place to board the horse (e.g. not suburbs of Boston), and unless that happens, I'm pretty happy window shopping!

An unremarkable lesson (yay!!) <- not sarcasm

I know if there was any sort of rules to how you should name a blog post, I'm probably breaking them. Yesterday's lesson was on Chewie, the been-there-done-that pony that has to be ridden in grazing reins. We worked on canter to trot transitions in a busy arena. I got better at the squeeze-cluck-crop combo. There was crazy lightening going on outside, but the horses didn't care at all. It always makes me wonder why thunder storms don't concern a pony but the littlest things do...

While I was waiting for my lesson, I watched what I assume was a beginner dressage group lesson. These aren't beginner riders, they seem like women who have hunter/jumper backgrounds that are learning dressage. I watched them work on a collected trot. One person was getting frustrated because the horse kept tossing his head. The instructor's advice was: ignore it for now, just focus on what we're working on. Normally, I watch these advance classes just to see what good riding looks like, but this time, Chewie happened to toss his head a lot and, remembering that, I ignored it! Good thing, too, because if my instructor is focused on my transitions, she's not going to know that my transition was wonky because the head toss was distracting me, (or my outside stirrup slipped, which is always the most distracting thing for me). I'm used to thinking up excuses for why I didn't perfectly execute something, but really there is no excuse for letting your attention waver.

All in all, the lesson was unremarkable. I improved incrementally in my transitions and got more comfortable with other riders in the ring. D wants me to ride a mare called Joy next. She also wants me to go over jumps again! I'm a little concerned about my jumping position (we didn't work on it this week and I was barely getting it last week), but hopefully grabbing some mane mid-air will keep things somewhat orderly.

Goals: Half-seat and downward transition

My lesson last night went really well. I showed up early and the person before me had cancelled so D gave me a 45 minute lesson. There was a lot of thunder happening outside, so we didn't do our usual short journey to the second indoor and staying in the one attached to the stables. There were two other instructors in there at the same time and three or four other riders. In previous times I had a lot of trouble with other riders, but we went over all the scenarios before starting and I managed to handle the situation!

We worked on a few things:

• Posting trot without falling in at the corners
• At trot: Post one, sit two
• At trot: Post two, sit one
• Canter while passing another rider in the corner without falling in (basically cutting a corner without being sloppy about it)
• Jumping position down the long side at the trot - this was not pretty. I either stuck my butt out or couldn't balance. Something I need to keep working on.
• Canter to trot transition was not always pretty, either. I think the feeling of going from a smooth gait to a bouncy one throws me off for a couple strides.

Chance tripped while cantering the short side, but my instructor said I didn't seem phased by it. To be honest, Chance is always tripping! I asked if I had done anything wrong, and D said he trips all the time. I am sure there are some sort of exercises to help a pony trip less, but it would be beyond me as a once-a-week student.

Leibster Award Ceremonial Blog!

I am beyond honored and excited that Deborah from My Examined Life nominated my fledgling blog for a Leibster Award. Especially since I realize this blog needs a little touching up! As I understand it, the Leibster Award is meant to pass on the good feels of the blogger community through nominations and fun Q&A. Here are the questions Deborah sent along:

1. Why do you blog?

 I started this blog because I wanted to keep track of my progress with riding. With the million things you have to keep in mind during your lesson, as well as the slow progress that comes with only riding once a week, I wanted to make sure I was on my game. I also plan to make this blog prettier (eventually) and get more photos of the horses I get to ride. I go to riding alone (pretty common, I bet, for an adult beginner), so there are never pictures of me riding, but that just motivates me to put myself out there and meet more riders! I also blog because I'm obsessed with riding and it's just another activity I can do to feed that obsession! And I'm excited to tap into this blogger community I did not know existed.

1. When did you get started with your horseback riding journey?

The journey began a couple years ago when I was in grad school in Rhode Island. I had always wanted to ride, but where I grew up (Boston suburbs) it was prohibitively expensive. My flexible grad school schedule led me to look up affordable riding lessons in the mornings. After the first lesson, which I prepared myself to be a one-time experience the instructor, S said, "So, is this a good time for a weekly lesson?" And that was it! I became an adult beginner. I took a little less than a year's worth of lessons with S, but I got to lease for a month which was a great experience, and I got to do one show, getting 5th in the year-end walk-trot championship! When I moved back to the Boston area, I got on a backyard horse and broke my arm. Now that I'm back to normal, I'm excited to be back to weekly lessons and ready to make some serious progress (and maybe show again?!)

1. What is the most difficult thing you find, about horseback riding?

The most difficult thing is the risk of injury. When I broke my arm, a lot of people assumed I wouldn't get back on the horse. I think because I wasn't very good yet, they assumed I hadn't invested a lot into it, and it would be easier to stop. Or maybe they thought I would be too scared to get on again. There were some minor fears due to that fall, but I think they were healthy (I was actually pretty fearless before that, so a little fear is probably safer!). I also find it difficult to justify the $240 a month that goes to these lessons! Especially when I still have student debt, a car to pay off, and my boyfriend and I are thinking about buying a house. But, I got a higher-paying job which riding in mind (really!) and am driven to be a little money-fiendish, if I'm being honest, so that I can afford this hobby in the long-term.

1. What is your favourite vacation spot/experience?

When I graduated from college, my uncle gave me a tour of Armenia, which he is very familiar with. We went all over the country with this driver who took us up mountains and down valleys. We went to an ancient monestary among tumbling hills. I loved wondering through the stone passageways and walking through the fields. It gave me an amazing sense of freedom. As I was writing the answer to this question, I thought I'd include some photos from the trip. I was amazed to see how many photos of horses I had taken! This was before I started riding, even before it occurred to that horses could be in my life at all.

A photo I took of a grazing horse in Armenian countryside.

Mama horse has to work, so baby follows close behind!

 

...And this picture I took of an Armenian cowboy (sheepboy?)

1. What is your favourite novel/book and why?

I don't read a ton of sci fi, but when I do I get really into it. I always loved Ender's Game and I recently read Ready Player One and was obesessed with it! My other favorite book is Pride and Prejudice. I just love a witty heroine.

Thanks again to Deborah for nominating me! I would love is people could suggest blogs from other beginner riders that I could nominate. I would love to start reading more blogs and connecting with more beginners! 

Back On Chance, the Wiggliest Ponay

I rode Chance at my lesson yesterday, he is the wiggly half-inch-short-of-being-a-horse-quarter-pony 6 year old that needs clear communication but is a really honest try-hard guy. We worked on leg-yielding, which is, apparently, a very elementary thing I was not aware of. But my instructor explained how to apply pressure to go forward and to the side, forward and to the side - while keeping the horse straight. I got it pretty quickly although I had to anticipate Chance turning. I was applying pressure with my left leg to yield right and D (my instructor) explained that energy should be transferred into my right hand, which keeps Chance from turning. I sort of got that, but it was hard to keep the contact with the right hand without causing Chance to turn right. I did find, though, when we were cantering, understanding the leg yield at the trot helped me to keep Chance on the rail, which was very difficult for me in the past. Soon I was cantering around the ring (short sides used to be a problem), without difficulty.

While I loved going over my first jump, it was nice to go back to working on the flat to improve things at the trot and canter. I can see how getting ahead of oneself in jumping could lead to problems. The leg yield will definitely help me with adjusting lining up so that I go over the middle of the jump!

fifteen inches of freedom

I got to have 2 lessons this week because of a makeup. On Tuesday the lesson involved Chewie, a pony that wears grazing reins, but will do everything you ask as long as you're clear. He tested me a couple times, trying to wander into the middle of the ring, but by the end of the lesson we got him to canter on the rail. I'm still understanding the balance between my legs as an aid and sometimes having to actually pull a little bit to get him over.

My second second lesson we worked on sitting the trot and then "revving the engine" as my instructor calls it, where you tell him "go" but you hold him back, then explode into a posting trot to go smoothly over a cavaletti. We did this both ways and then my instructor said, "how about you do a big circle while I set up this jump." I look over and there is a 15" jump waiting for me. Without much preamble she sends me trotting up to it and I do a kinda-jumping position over it. The last time I attempted that was when I broke my arm, but this was so casual and smooth that I couldn't imagine falling off. It's amazing, nothing marks progress in riding like falling off trying something and staying on the next time! A few more times over the jump and I finally was getting into jumping position. And because I was focused on that, it wasn't until later I realized how more in-control I had gotten of Chewie, to keep him on a straight line, to get him more energized at the trot when I asked and to not feel all flustered when he cantered after landing the jump.

As you can imagine, I can't wait to try that jump again. I can see it all now: Trotting the jump, then cantering the jump, then two jumps, then higher jumps.

I should mention one other small victory. While getting Chewie tacked up, everyone kept remarking on how pissed off he was looking. He tried to bite me at least 5 times and finally I was firm with him and he gave up sulkily. #Confidence

Look Mama, I made it!

....around the entire ring without breaking the canter! Actually, I would not want my mom to see that because she is deathly horrified of me falling off and I wasn't exactly graceful.

In any case, the victory canter required a lot of false starts on the wrong lead, some pulling on the mouth due to poor balance that led to a hasty trot and finally, a canter around the ring that may not have ended gracefully, but at least it ended with no one worse for wear. Turns out, I get really confused, while cantering, what my left hand is versus my right, because my instructor was telling me to hold on to some main with my left hand and open up the rein a little with my right and had to keep saying, "your OTHER right!"

Also interesting, she had me do this smaller square around four cones, pushing in with my outside leg at the turn and it felt wonderful, like Chance was reacting immediately and with energy to my leg.

I will admit that the canter still scares me a little. I remember cantering on some older horses and it was really just like floating on a couch. Not Chance! Who, by the way, is a quarter pony - short of a horse by a half inch. I love the little guy.

I thought I could canter around the ring?

I always knew that just when you think you know how to do something on one horse, you get on another and he really tests you. Chance is that horse, because he's green and he does EXACTLY what I ask, meaning all those cues I don't realize I'm giving, he picks up on. So I'm not yet able to canter around the ring on him, because we go down the long side and once we get to the corner he falls in and we find ourselves spiraling into a tighter and tighter circle. It feels like we're going to topple over! As my instructor pointed out at the end (too late to correct that day), I need to put weight in my outside stirrup, while keeping leg on inside and...okay I don't remember what I'm supposed to do with my reins? Open the outside rein? Open the inside rein? Cantering has gotten so much more complicated! The old lesson horses just stay on the track and go!

Group lesson for funsies and Argghhhh circles

I got the opportunity to do a group lesson a couple weeks ago and I was excited about the opportunity to play some equestrian games. I knew what tennis lesson games were like (you know, hit the ball at the cone to get your friend out of "jail") or basketball lesson games (knock-out!!) or swim lesson games (relay races) but I wasn't sure if I had enough multi-tasking skill to play any sort of game on a horse. As it turns out, the equestrian "games" we played were all centered around passing each other. We trotted in a line and the person in the back had to pass everyone to be in the front, or the person in the front peeled back, or did a circle or cut across the arena, etc. It was fun because I had to focus on making a nice circle as if I was at a horse show. We also got to switch horses a couple times so I rode 3 horses in 1 day! Which sounds super professional to me.  One horse was older and steadier but you had to keep your leg on to energize him. Another was a pony that was older and steadier but also couldn't canter so you had to work around that. The third was younger and energetic and would get confused by mixed signals. The last game involved a 20 meter circle with 2 people riding counter-clockwise on the inside and two people riding clockwise on the outside. I couldn't get the young horse (Chance) to canter on the inside circle because I wasn't very good at steering wtih my legs and ended up pulling on his mouth and confusing him.

Which is why my instructor is so awesome and with it because in my private lesson the next week she remembered that I had that issue on Chance and decided to take a step back and approach steering with the canter more generally. She explained how Chance is a 6 year old (youngest horse I've ever ridden!) quarter horse who is still green and needs clear instructions because older lesson horses have a set bag of tricks based on what you tell them to do, but Chance does not. We worked on bending Chance around circles and it was indeed more difficult than it was with the older lesson horses. His shoulder would fall in an the circle would feel (and obviously look, from my instructor's point of view) sloppy, even if it was pretty good in overall shape. I am getting a little better at feeling the difference between falling in and bending, but it's a delayed feeling where I realize a little too late. We also worked on the canter and focus on keeping my inside leg on to steer. I was getting better at this and could see progression to being able to canter in a tight circle like I was supposed to in that game.

At the end of the private lesson I went on a little trail ride around the property with some ladies who were getting out of their lesson. They told me that Chance got very sick when he first arrived a few months back at the barn and almost died. I was already impressed with this mild mannerd, eager 6 year old and now I think he's a pretty special horse. He's also for sale, so I'll probably be broken-hearted to see him go by the end of the summer!

yo - real quick

Pinoeer Woman is on Netflix, and if you are the type of person that gets excited about anything that has even the tiniest b-roll of horses in it...I'm telling you, this lady is living the homestead dream. She has such a cheerful disposition, homeschools her 4 kids and shows love for her horses. While it's hard as a city girl to prioritize baking a pie for the husband/boyfriend/whatever over climbing the corporate ladder...I enjoy the glimpses into her life. And her recipe for sweet potato fries was dead on.

Here is a funny post from her blog about her son finally being big enough to get off his horse by himself.

More squeeze, please

In yesterday's lesson I got what I would have previously considered a "lazy" horse to trot on command whenever I asked. I think I've just learned to build up my requests, from squeeze, to squeeze more, to kick, etc. as well as probably gotten stronger at squeezing! We worked on avoiding dropping a shoulder at the corners, which I guess I must have totally been doing this whole time. It wasn't so hard, just an extra squeeze of the inside leg. We also worked on circles, and I was surprised at how much I had to pull on a rein to get the correct circle. A lot of my lack of confidence comes out in "not wanting to hurt the animal" either by pulling or kicking a lot. I think this is a good idea in general, but I am realizing there's pulling and kicking without being clear and then there's pulling and kicking because you WERE being clear, and they're just not listening. In any case, I always apply more force AFTER my instructor tells me to do something. Because, heck, I don't know how it feels to a horse, but I assume my instructor has the best intentions...

Canter fears controlled!

 OK, so I wasn't ALWAYS afraid of the canter, because I learned on some slow, trusty steeds, where the canter was like floating on a happy cloud, but after my fall and riding a horse with more go than woah now, I was having trouble staying in control and I'd be holding my breath through the whole thing. Last night's lesson I learned how to slow down, but keep the canter going. Get the horse (Colonel) to canter and then keep the leg on while bringing the head up by tightening the reins. I'm SO bad about tightening the reins. I only did one show in my life and it was a walk-trot class and the judge's criticism was that I looked like I was neck-reigning on a trail ride. Anyways, I was seeing the value in pulling in those reins as I got a nice, controlled canter.

I hosed Colonel down after my lesson because he was super sweaty. It was very muggy out with negative effects: An owner was walking her colicky horse around the riding ring. After Colonel had done lessons all day, I admit I lingered a little by his stall to see if he would drink water. Of course he just munched on hay and looked at my curiously like, "Aren't I done with you for the day?"

My instructor also promised that next week I will be able to do a little trail riding after my lesson, which is pretty exciting. I've actually never done a trail ride except for the touristy kind. At my previous places there was either nowhere to trail ride on site or they were just too busy to make such suggestions. All in all, I'm so happy I'm at this barn now.

Colonel wondering why I'm still staring at him.

Throwin' Elbows

So I started at a new barn yesterday because the other one couldn't accommodate my schedule, which is kind of a sad reason to leave. I didn't even know them well enough to say goodbye, nor do they have strong enough communication skills (answering emails or listening to voice mails) to notice I'm gone.

I was very nervous about last night's lesson. All told it took me 2 hours to get from my desk at work to the horse. I'm going to try another route next time, but that's pretty much what we're looking at for travel, folks. Getting home at 8pm took under 45 minutes, of course.

In any case, my eval ride was kind of an eye opener. This was a push button horse with a lot of go. I don't think I've ever been on one of those? (Except for my friend's flying couch of a Percheron, but she's a little all over the place). So when the instructor told me to keep my elbows at my sides to control speed, I was like, "Wow! This is how you slow down the trot to sit it?!" Because of this, I wasn't slumped over, either. I was amazed that I could keep my elbows at my sides and ask for a walk with a gently squeeze from a standstill, get a canter right off the bat, and transition more smoothly down to a walk. I think the most important thing was, that because I wasn't giving my arms forward to the horse, I kept control, I was less scared and I became more relaxed as well. I guess these are the "Aha!" moments people look for.

To throw up something for debate, however, I was feeling weird about switching to a new barn because I haven't had a consistent instructor since my first, 2 years ago. But this new instructor found major flaws in my equitation that no one had pointed out before. So, I guess there is something to be said about trying new instructors.

In any case, my boss gave the go ahead to leave a few minutes early on Tuesday, so it looks like I've found my regular thing! My only regret is still being unable to do group lessons because of scheduling. My instructor recommended it so that I could see others ride and play games to get comfortable around other horses, but ultimately we decided on the half-hour private lesson. There were some older ladies in the ring (Note I said 'older' NOT old!) who after were giving me words of encouragement, so I will get to see them show their stuff and learn to move around their courses, and generally bond with them! I mention that they are older only because they seem to be more consistent in their attendance...and I could use some consistency in my riding situation these days!

Filling the lesson gap: 30 days of yoga

I started a new job and am not able to get to that 5:30-on-a-Friday lesson anymore. I was never before able to find weekend lessons with that (or any) barn, but just this evening something must have changed, because the online appointment schedule for my barn had a couple 1-hour beginner lesson slots open on Saturday. I'm not sure if summer freed it up, or it's a new instructor (I didn't recognize the name) or what, but I'm praying my request is accepted. The level of desperation is pretty high for me right now. Did I mention that this is a 1-hour private lesson? I'm not going to type, even on this semi-anonymous blog, what that sort of thing goes for in our beautiful Boston suburbs. But then, I gave up my more flexible, lower paying job for a more time consuming, higher paying job, so I'll be damned if I'm going to let an extra $20 get in the way of my riding.

During the 3 weeks of zero riding I seem to be stuck in, I started doing the 30 Day Yoga Challenge. I'm on Day 17! Ok, I may have missed a couple days here and there, squeezed two videos in a row in an attempt to catch up...In any case, I'm hoping it will help with my back, which has been finicky. I also figure it's good cross training while I'm out of the saddle.

Ticks on necks and other clues that I'm still learning

Timmy, 14.2 hands of Paint awesomeness!

The title of this post is attributed to the fact that Timmy had a tick under his chin and I didn't notice during my grooming session, but, luckily, my instructor did! She pointed out that they get them from eating the grass. Now I will be adding that to my routine.

My new instructor is J and I am p-r-e-t-t-y sure is younger than me (but by the way I awkwardly follow her around and she confidently owns at life at the barn who could tell?) and she is awesome! She asked what I'd been working on and I told her I've been really getting to know the posting trot, but that I do know how to canter (hint, hint) so we started some cantering in the lesson! She wanted me to start from a posting trot, sit for a couple beats in the corner and then get a canter going, but I was terrible at kicking hard enough to get going while bouncing around in my "sitting" trot. When I didn't get it the first try I was having even more trouble asking for a canter from the trot. I got it once in each direction and then the lesson was up.

As Deborah from My Examined Life were discussing in the Comments Section, it's one thing to understand what you're supposed to be doing as an adult, and a whole 'nother to actually do it! I recall being able to sit the trot quite well on a horse at my old barn (but just one of the horses) and this pony is proving a challenge.

In other news, I graduated from physical therapy this morning and have started the 30 Day Yoga Challenge which really eases me into yoga and I am now committed to! I get very competitive and push myself too far with running so I am trying NOT to do that with yoga (and I am limiting myself to short runs of 3 miles a couple times a week right now).

I have a lesson on Friday morning because that is my one day off before starting my new job and I'm pretty stoked to be at the barn during a quiet time. I'm also praying I can move to weekend lessons because I wont be able to do Fridays anymore with my new job (at least, not at first).

10,000 hours to being an expert? How about 350 to being a confident rider?

Me trying to remain in control when B tugs the reins!

Today is my last day with my instructor and I'm more than a little frustrated at the fact that, just as I got into a steady relationship, she's leaving! Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for her - she told me she's going south to get a steady job with a 401k...something in her late 40's that she does not have. Living your dream in the horse industry does not make it easy to have a retirement fund, it seems. As a 26 year old with a 401k bigger than my savings account (oops), I'm glad she's found a way to get what she needs!

Anyways, I needed some perspective on the slow-going of being an adult beginner. Sometimes it feels like, in these two years, I've made very little progress, partly because I've been off an on and also, I thought, because I'm not a "natural" like kids that start young get to be. So, to put it in perspective, I did a little investigative journalism to see if I was progressing so slowly after all.

The teenagers at my barn tell me they rode for about six years before competing seriously in the hunters. One jumper told me that was the same for her, and she did four years of hunters before showing in jumpers. That was after weekly lessons, a couple weeks of riding camp in the summer, and then later a weekly lesson coupled with a team lesson and practice ride (basically, going up to riding 3 times a week or more when they started doing hunters). So, six years of weekly lessons plus a week or two of summer camp annually is around 350 lessons! (And don't worry, I'm not going to calculate what that means cost-wise. None of us need that in their lives.

I guess my point is that, even for the youngsters who, I admit, I get more than a little jealous of, it takes time in the saddle to get to where they are now. I think it also seems more slow-going as an adult beginner because our instructors know we are able to focus on good technique and forming good habits rather than getting bored to easily and needing to move on to jumping when our trot isn't quite there. And when you consider what they say about 10,000 hours required to be an expert - which I by no means expect to ever be as an equestrian - I'm pretty happy with the prospect of 350 hours in the saddle to looking like I know how to get through a course.

Building confidence on the freight train

K likes to refer to her percheron, B, as a freight train because she's difficult to stop, likes to spontaneously canter when trotting and will stop everything, walk to the edge of the ring and drop her head for some grass whenever she pleases. She also has no problem marching through the gate and towards her barn if you aren't 100% convincing that it isn't time yet. As you can imagine, as a beginner this is a horse I do not get a lot of exposure to in my lesson program.

Which is why it was so nice of K to let me come out and ride B for the second time yesterday. The first time, I was mildly terrified by the spontaneous cantering (I hadn't cantered since the day I broke my arm) and more-than-a-little embarrassed by how hard it was for me to control B when she strolled right out of the ring, nose to the ground, with me on her back. The second time went a little better. All of those things kept happening, but K's advice of having me to serpentines on B to distract her worked well and even if she did start misbehaving, I could eventually bring her back to attention. I tried to do all this without pulling her mouth, which just seemed pointless and cruel for a freight train and also rude to do in front the owner. This was a good way to get a better understanding of how to use my feet, legs and seat to convince a horse to do her job. K had me walk B out into the meadow, which was basically the first time I'd ever ridden out of the ring by myself (as you can tell, I note every first when they happen).

Overall, it is a great experience riding B, and I hope K can find it in her busy schedule to let me tag along again some time. I'm definitely not ready to ride B without K present, but maybe some day it could turn into a half-lease situation!

Horse nibbles and other firsts

Yesterday I had a lesson on Fame, who I never rode before. Getting him ready involved a lot of work since he was covered in crusty mud and would throw his head up when I tried to put his bridle on. I had to to keep his halter on the crossties around his neck to control him while putting his bridle on. I thought about asking for help from one of the girls near by but decided I was fed up with being bossed around by horses and very politely but forcefully made it happen. I was pretty pleased with myself, but while waiting in the indoor for J to ok my tack and let me mount, Fame bit me! I was pretty sure he hated me at that point, although I was also weirdly kind of interested in my first time being bit by a horse. I guess I'm pretty enthusiastic about horses if I find bites as interesting experiences. J told me not to worry and that he bites everyone and, once I started riding him, he was pretty good. He would test me, but not in a way that wasn't conducive to my lesson. Overall, I'm pretty happy that I get to ride so many different horses.

Anyways, we worked on trotting more. That's all I do, really, trot around one way then the other, then do circles. I never knew there was so much to the posting trot! And I learned to close my hip angle while posting at the trot which requires a lot more muscle (along doing better about keeping my leg on), so I'm finding that being a better rider means working a lot harder, but making it look more effortless. No wonder people who don't ride think the horse does all the work!

J will be moving, sadly, so I'm going to have to find another instructor at the barn, which wouldn't be a problem, except I'm starting a new job that will require extra commute time. Finding a stable (pun intended) lesson situation is pretty difficult when you work 9-5 in Boston so I'm going to have to figure that out. Sigh. Just as I was getting back into things. 

My growing book list

When I took my first riding lesson a couple years ago, I was so eager to understand where my lessons would lead that I ran out and grabbed the only book they had on horseback riding at the bookstore: Horseback Riding For Dummies. It wasn't such a bad book, and it definitely was useful for a beginner who really just needed to become acquainted with the basic language I would hear from my instructor and around the barn.

That Christmas my ever-supportive boyfriend got me a bunch of horsey books:
One Hundred and Four Horses - a lovely memoir about a family going through dangerous times in Zimbabwe that was dedicated to saving their beloved horses
Horse Stories (Everyman's Pocket Classics) - A really nice collection of classic short stories that I found interesting because it showed man's relationship to horses over the years
Zen Mind, Zen Horse - This is pretty interesting, although I haven't read it cover to cover. It talks about mindfulness with horses. I think this is something that is difficult to work on at my level, where I'm already trying to figure out a million things at once, but I'd be interested to see what more advanced riders' thoughts are on it.

Since then I've listened to Half Broke Horses on audio which was another interesting memoir about a resilient girl growing up on a ranch in turn-of-the-century West Texas. I've also read The Eighty-Dollar Champion: Snowman, The Horse That Inspired A Nation which is now one of my all-time-favorite memoirs, especially as I start lessons at a hunter-jumper barn. I read Horse People and had mixed feelings about it. It was an interesting look into a certain type of person's horse world, but was pretty elitist. The Yonahlossee Riding Camp For Girls is a fairly new and beautifully written coming-of-age story about a girl that is sent to finishing school amidst a family scandal, forced to leave her pony and gain respect in the school's riding ring. I loved this book.

Right now I'm reading Geoff Teal on Riding Hunters, Jumpers and Equitation. I wanted to get into instructional books to go along with my lessons and this one seems really good so far. Geoff Teal has a great understanding of how people progress, where they make mistakes and how to be realistic in setting goals.

If anyone has more suggestions, I would love to hear them!

DOOR!

Yesterday I had a pretty good ride on Timmy. He would stop trotting the minute I got distracted, but I can't really blame him for that. The high school team was in the ring and I was so confused and timid moving around them. I need to get used to learning when it's ok to pass people, saying "rail please" or "on your left". To be honest I am still getting used to walking a horse up to a closed barn door and yelling "DOOR". It makes total sense but is a little strange to an outsider. I also do little things like tack up on a cross tie facing the wrong direction (because apparently there was another cross tie right behind me) that make me feel like I'm never going to get used to all the rules! I would like to start cantering again, but I doubt my instructor will have me do that so long as the team is inside and I'm showing my lack of confidence maneuvering around them.

In any case, for the trot I need to work on keeping my elbows in, keeping my leg on, not just being pushed out of the saddle but controlling the post at the trot, and not letting my outside shoulder drop forward when turning.

Not so bad! Might get to ride B tomorrow if I can squeeze it in after a guitar lesson and before a birthday party. Would love to show K that I am more confident this time around (rather than bumping around in the saddle when Bianca spontaneously canters).

Beginner Rider meets Beginner Blogger

I have been following some other blogs for a while now (often on the sneak, at work) - mainly these two:

My Examined Life

Bit By Bit: Tales of a Newbie Horseback Rider

One is about someone picking up riding after a hiatus, the other about a true adult beginner like me. I've been learning to ride for two years and it's been a rocky road. Part of the reason for starting this blog was to feel more organized in my journey.

I was reading 9 Things You Need To Know If You Want To Ride Horses and finally decided I had too many thoughts in my head and not enough people I knew in my position to keep it inside any longer. Particularly, this excerpt hit home: 

8. Be wary of the “a little knowledge is a dangerous thing” stage.This happens to everyone at least once in their riding career. There eventually comes a time, once you have made your mistakes and learned from them, that you begin to feel pretty confident about your equine-related skills. The tack no longer defies you. You develop the balance and coordination needed to walk, trot and canter without feeling like you might fall off any second. You can even ride and talk at the same time!When it all starts to come together like this, you might become a little more confident than were at the beginning. You start to take more riding risks. You might think about changing routines to suit yourself better – change the barn, or ditch your instructor!Before you head off into the land of grass is greener everywhere else, heed these words! You will want to spread your wings and fly – that is a fact.  However, although there are certainly many ways to Rome, especially in the equine world, don’t “instructor hop”. Nothing is more confusing than trying to comprehend different people’s systems over and over again. (http://horselistening.com/2013/09/30/9-things-you-need-to-know-if-you-want-to-ride-horses/)

I broke my arm this past fall trying out a horse to lease. The owner thought I was able to pop over a little crossrail, which, I sort of was (on a horse I knew VERY well - NOT a new horse) and I fell off and broke my arm. I felt bad for everyone involved (including my family and boyfriend who had to help out in the months to come) but I did not feel so sorry for myself. I had misjudged my abilities and learned the hard way that, as a beginner rider, there is no linear path to becoming a better rider. You can be competent at the walk trot and canter on one horse and be completely unable to get a jaded lesson horse to do more than walk around the ring.

I can hardly remember the imputus behind deciding to pick up riding lessons. I was in grad school at Brown in Providence and decided to look on Craigslist for affordable lessons (since everything seems more affordable in Providence than in Boston/Cambridge) and started taking lessons. At one point I took a few months off (they didn't have an indoor for the winter and I was short on cash), but I got to show walk-trot once, had an instructor who lay down great foundations for me. When I moved back to Boston, I stated taking lessons at a very nice Hunter-Jumper barn in the suburbs and, now that my arm is healed, am back on track.

I'd like to take a moment to introduce the characters in the play that has been infolding to catch you up to speed.

S - S was my first instructor. She was previously a jockey (her sister is still involved in the industry) and I learned to ride in her low-key barn on her pleasent rescued OTTB's. If I was still in Providence, I would still be with her.

J - J is my new instructor and she is AWESOME. She is taking me slowly through our lessons. She was pretty understanding of my irresponsible situation that got me the broken arm and didn't make any judgey comments (in fact she pointed out that she is in her 40's and still gets into dumb situations with her friends - I appreciated this little bonding moment). At first, she put me on a horse that was stubborn about trotting under my poor seat and other confusing cues. My last lesson was on a pony named Timmy and we trotted happily around for our half-hour private lesson.

K - K is my cousin's friend from work (they are orthopedic surgeons, NBD) and she has a percheron named B she is slowly introducing me to who is safe (though the spontaneously combusts into canters right now) and available for me to ride during the week for free. It is the sort of situation I was looking for that fateful day I broke my arm - but it is safer because 1. We are focusing on the flat and 2. Did I mention it involves and orthopedic surgeon? She knows how to keep me safe.

Maxy, Parker & Twister - These horses you will not meet in the blog, but they were who I learned to walk, trot and canter on with Sandy. They have left an impression on me and, when my arm was in a sling, I thought of them a lot and how it is more than a dangerous sport, it is a way to connect with animals on a whole other level.

I Got to show on Parker and, for one extra-special month when I was finishing up grad school, leased Max, who is my age (then 25). I remember riding him around the ring while everyone else was doing things in the barn and realizing it was the first time it was truly just us two. It was an amazing (and mildly scary) feeling.

Woody, Artie & Timmy - These are the lesson horses at the barn I have come to know. Artie was the one that I could not get to trot, even with spurs and a loose rein and trying to keep my seat in control. He represents that mysterious power that better riders seem to have (the other woman who rides him can get him to trot sure enough!) that I am striving towards.

The BF - I live with my awesome boyfriend and a cat. We are one happy family! He is very supportive. When I had broken my arm and cautiously mentioned to him I'd like to continue riding even though my parents were horrified by the idea, he very coolly stated "That was never a question, now, was it?" AMEN, BF!

The Parents and the bro -  My parents are the sweetest people. My mom is currently fighting breast cancer, so this summer will be full of chemo and other hard things, but we are confident she will come out on top. I wanted to let you guys know riding may become a very important outlet for me under these circumstances. I also have an awesome brother (we have a book club together) and some awesome friends! I grew up in this area and a lot of people are close to me. It can be hard to make time for riding when there is so much to do in Boston (especially since getting to the barn can take an hour), but it shows how important it is to me when I give up social activities for riding.

Sorry if this was a rambling post. I figured the re-caps of my riding lessons will be more interesting, but this could be a good reference! I have a lesson tomorrow, so I guess we will see!