Haven't blogged much but I've managed to get to lessons almost weekly despite all the summer weekend trips. At this point, I've ridden almost all the lesson horses and have realized they all teach me different things:
Delilah: She can clear a jump no matter if you don't have the path, power or position right. She's a show pony that builds confidence and got me through a horse show without an ounce of sweat. I don't take many lessons on her because there are other horses that offer challenges for me to learn more from.
Tony: He's an OTTB/Quarter horse mix and the goofy, kind sort. He needs confidence towards jumps or he'll run out. He also gets stronger through out the lesson. I rode him last lesson and we worked on trotting to the jump, up to 2'6" (more my limit than his, I'm sure he could trot and get over higher). My major struggle with the trot to the jump is not getting left behind - how do you know where the distance is going to be??
(I had a special moment with him where he twitched as the lawnmower went by and we stayed calm while everyone else went to shit. Pardon my French.)
Katie aka "Ms. Perfect": My instructor jokes that she doesn't like Katie ("There's nothing special about her") and has attempted to sell her, only to have the students protest. Katie is one of those horses you learn steering from - you realize how your instincts are wrong and you need to fine tune the how your reins and legs work together. There's probably a more eloquent way to describe it, but she will completely ignore your leg and wander of the track if you aren't being absolute with where you want her to go. I've never had a horse person tell me they don't like a horse, but I kinda get it with Katie. She could be someone's forever horse. As a lesson horse, she's a total struggle bus.
Traveler: A bulldozer. He will sprint at every jump and then go galloping around the indoor for a few laps if you let him. He doesn't want to stand still. He was trained to rush jumps as some key point in his life and will seemingly never change. It's like a Pavlovian response: see jump - bull doze. He does frame up really nicely at the trot though, and he's taught me to sit up before jumps to keep him under control. Once I get him where I want, he's actually quite beautiful, despite having the unfortunate conformation of a cow.
Calvin: My first love at the barn, he's just a lovable OTTB who is still learning how to be a jumper. I have previous posts from when he would trip every few feet. Now kids are winning ribbons on him. He will still chicken out at certain jumps, or at least drift, so he teaches me to use correct leg and rein to get him over the center of the jump.
Braiden: Still green, but my instructor has been training him in dressage and I had a lot of fun doing a intro dressage lesson on him. Looking forward to learning much more in the future.
There are still 2 horses I haven't ridden - a mare and a very green baby. Both, apparently, are very different rides. I wonder if you could learn something different from every horse on this planet??
