We've entered cavaletti hell

All my previous posts have basically been about how cavalettis are making me the rider I want to be.

Well, right now they are my personal hell.

My instructor put ground poles and raised poles on a semi circle and I've replayed this in my head several times and still don't quite know how to do it. Here's footage of the disaster I was this past Sunday:

Sorry, I know someone blocks the camera at the end, but I think there's only so much if this you would want to look at anyways.

Most of the time, Tony just wanted to run out, because the strides were so weird, so at least I got to work on keeping him to the bending line. That was a challenge for me in and of itself.

There are so many things to think about with this exercise.  I think I should just stay in a light seat because otherwise I get behind the motion, so that's one thing to try next time.

It also goes by so quickly that I don't have time to think about whether we look good. But here are the 3 things that I think I could immediately do to improve:

1. I guess I could start with having a good rhythm. That's always a good thing, right??

2. And obviously keep him to the center of the poles, which has a lot to do with me learning how much leg to use.

3. And, relatedly to how much leg, half halting properly so I'm not just pulling him one way or other, or letting him escape through a sloppy loose rein.

Other than this exercise, we improved a lot as partners in terms of transitions. Tony gets stronger with more and more jumping, but I was getting better at bringing him down to a walk from a canter. I could even bring him to a halt which used to feel impossible for me. And he even backs easily. Trying weird exercises feels a lot better when you know you are ultimately in control.

All the puzzle pieces

This month I have been traveling all over the country for work, usually leaving Sunday evenings. So I'm pretty stoked that I've been able to consistently go to my weekend riding lesson. Obviously, my dream has always been to ride consistently during the week, but that is for another time in my life.

My husband came to a lesson this month and took a bunch of videos of what we are working.

• Transitions: We are working on asking quietly, like asking for the trot with just the inside leg, doing a downward transition by sitting deeper, etc.
• Canter: I can canter longer than i could before. I used to get disorganized and it would all fall apart before I made it all the way around the ring. I noticed in this video that I'm pumping my arms, and this is because i want to give the horse his neck and it just looks a little...artificial?
• Simple lead changes. These are pretty simple, but i also need to learn to avoid unnecessary ones by planning for the correct lead before the jump. 
• Sitting up and being forward to jumps. You'll see in the video that I've gotten better at this, and it's probably due to less fear going over a jump. Probably, as the jumps get higher, I will need to learn how to stay out of the saddle longer! In terms of being more forward, this is a balancing act for me. I ride one horse where if you rev her up too much, she starts bucking, and another where if you don't, he'll trip over the jumps. Definitely learning to fine tune.
• No-stirrup posting trot. Getting my leg at the girth and generally wrapping it around the horse correctly lasts about 4 seconds, and then it slips!

In the video below, you can see what we work on throughout a typical lesson, how my instructor builds up the jumps, and where my issues are. 

In last week's lesson, we worked on going over a jump and doing a 10 meter circle at the trot, then the canter, to go over the jump again. I did not get it quite right at the canter. It comes up so fast! My instructor was kind enough to point out my horse's long back as part of the difficulty. But the canter is feeling better to me, so I'm confident I can get this soonish. I need to work on:

• Not leaning into the circle, just turning my torso (and using my eyes)
• Using the outside rein for the turn
• More half halts rather than pulling

Um...yeah, a lot of things need to click for me :)

Left lead right lead

I got to work on the canter a lot on Katie in my last lesson.

I usually find it difficult to ask her for the right lead, but this time it was clicking for me. We could switch leads by going into a few steps of trot.

We worked on me standing for two seconds and sitting for two seconds in the canter. I didn't really succeed in fully standing. I think my legs aren't really in the right position when I stand up (more forward), so it's more like a half seat.

Also, when I sit down, it's not soft enough and Katie would break into a trot. I'm thinking this means I need to maintain a light seat in this exercise.

We did a little jumping and went over a 2'6" standard a couple times, but it wasn't hugely successful, we couldn't get over the middle of the jump. I still call it a minor success because I used to be unable to get over a jump with her at all. She refuses if there is any leaning forward on my part at all.

She also requires being fine tuned in my aids. If I ask for a canter, but then keep asking too much, she will start bucking. I'm learning to sit up more when that happens, but my instinct is to grab mane, which means leaning forward.

Leaning forward is consistently my issue. I think I still do it in my trot to canter transitions, as well. I guess I have a fear of being left behind and losing my balance that way. I guess I have to let myself be behind the motion and then fine tune from there if I want to make progress - lesser of two mistakes?!

Corrections for no stirrup

In yesterday's private we worked on trotting without stirrups, and I realized why it's so hard. I thought I could just relax my leg down the side of the horse, but apparently that isn't the right position. I had to put my hand on the pommel to pull my seat forward, let my leg hang long, but then I have to make sure my leg is lightly touching the horse, from my knee down to my heel. This meant my toes were still up, like the stirrup would position them. It also meant I had to use muscles I never use. I couldn't do it for much more than 5 minutes, and with a lot of readjusting by grabbing the pommel.

This is the sort of thing that would be great to work on during practice rides!

...

I'll be traveling for work 5 days a week for the next month.

Sigh.

We also worked on keeping a rhythm at the trot and canter and going over crossrails/2' verticals. I cantered longer than I think I ever have on the rail (ok, sometimes I cut some corners) and was actually doing it long enough to find a rhythm. My left leg really slides around, though. Which just makes me think that no-stirrup work is really valuable!

Pony Club kinda

My friend wanted to take a riding lesson after taking some riding lessons at camp when she was younger. To be clear, that would have been about 20 years ago for her. I arranged a semi-private where we could ride together, and my amazing instructor managed to teach both of us simultaneously.

Her lesson largely consisted of working students switching off leading her at the walk and trot while she worked on posting. She did some airplane hands and also went over a tiny crossrail (re: crossed ground poles) to find her balance. By the end she was getting that posting thing! She's super athletic (like me, hehe) so I saw her go through the same thought process I always do to learn new things:
1. Relax the body
2. Correct the posture
3. Feel for the rhythm/find the moment you need to act on
4. Tell your body to do the thing!
She will be joining me again in a couple weeks, and I'm so excited to have a friend to drive up and ride with. It's something I've never consistently had. I think a lot of people love the barn for the friends that come with it, and I've always wanted that.

I have this issue with dropping my shoulders - as I was learning to canter (ok, still a bit when I ask for the canter) and going over new jumps. So it was interesting to see her doing a similar thing when put in a new situation. I know you can learn from people who are better than you, but there is something about seeing the mistake you make magnified in a beginner that can teach you, as well.

For my lesson we worked on jumping on angles. This definitely falls into the category of your own mind creating the challenge. The horse's job is the same as taking a jump head-on, it's up to me to figure out what the path should be and where the takeoff is. I was riding the pony, and she likes to drift left, which meant missing the center of the jump. So I had to learn to reeeeally see that angled path to the jump, know where to look beyond the jump to get it right (in other sports I call this the follow through - like in tennis, softball, golf. It's interesting that there is a followthrough in jumping, especially complicated since your body has to follow through while your mind thinks  about the next jump).

Riding the pony was fun, but I had some technical issues - the saddle didn't fit her quite right, so it shifted, so my stirrups were uneven, so I'd lose a stirrup - etc., etc. And I'm finally starting to understand what it means if a saddle is too small for you. I would never have noticed before, but as we're getting to working on more precise stuff it's manifesting as an issue as I go over jumps. Then again, I try to avoid excuses and always assume you should be able to jump perfectly no matter what - because I know a really good rider could overcome that sort of thing... But it got me thinking, maybe I need to move away from riding the pony (and jumping around from horse to horse, for that matter) and work on things with one horse that fits me. Something to discuss with the instructor.

In true style, I promptly left for 2 weeks to go to Italy for a wedding and to see some cities and haven't ridden since.  I'm looking forward to the end of summer meaning regularity in my riding schedule. And a jumper show is coming up! I may end up riding the same classes I did last year, since it's literally the only jumper show I've done, but I know I have improved and hope it comes through in my performance.

Last Place for Chase Me Charlie (shrug)

I went back to my usual lesson on Sunday for the first time in what felt like a month. I wouldn't say I was that rusty, but in there are things I still need to work on.

I rode a very promising future eventer type that is proving to be a wonderful teacher in dressage and jumping - even as he's learning, himself.

He's been doing this thing lately where he drops his head too low when we're working on the trot. That was sort of a first for me, after learning on him how to get his down, only to find he's going to far with it now! Minor issue, but recorded for posterity.

We worked on jumping. I think the biggest thing I need to work on is getting the horse straight to the jumps. Not because just doing this alone will solve all my problems, but it's universally important on all horses. Especially when my instructor gives us a course to try that involves jumper turns, I need to not exaggerate those turns at the cost of a crooked approach.

Once I'm straight, we are fine going over the smaller jumps assuming there's impulsion so we don't rub. I was in a lesson with one other person (and by person, I mean a girl that is maybe 18 years younger than me) and our instructor set up a Chase Me Charlie. Each bar added was 9 inches. The other student had no problem on the pony getting up to the 4th bar (3 feet) - she was just working on something improvements like sitting up too soon after the jump.

I, however, did just fine at 3 bars (2'3") but we kept refusing at the 4th. I saw 'we' because I was either
1. Leaning forward sub-consciously before the jump and throwing off the balance or;
2. Not having even leg pressure going in.
I would also occasionally throw in something weird, like overcompensating with too much right rein when I needed a tiny adjustment.

I guess it was a bit of a mess. Needless to say, I lost. I am so looking forward to jumping 3 feet for the first time, and I may have temporarily led myself to believe that was going to be the moment. But you can't take a summer off from jumping and then magically be better at it.

Slow, infrequent, but steady improvement is the theme of this blog, after all.

Shootin from the hip

Yesterday I did a 2+ hour lesson on centered riding with Icelandic horses. I'm going to try my best to capture everything we went through - it was a lot, but everything was what I was missing up until now.

My instructor own a small barn with 3 (soon to be 4) Icelandic horses. There was the older schoolmaster, who had eventing history. There was the young spry guy she described as more of a ferrari, and one boarder.

We started with understanding the bit. Feeling with my hands what it felt like in the horse's mouth. How doing an opening rein (rotating palm up firs, then open out) felt like a smoother turn than a direct rein. Practicing myself by holding the reins and seeing how she reacted holding the bit as we walked around. I also felt (from both sides) how even the way I pick up the reins can feel jostling.

 It was something I don't think many instructors would have an adult rider try out. One of the first things, of many, I'd never gotten the chance to do with my quick, hop-on-the-horse-and-go lessons.

We moved on to grooming, and I realized how much I missed on a horse, both in terms of area as well as finding bug bites and skin ailments to treat.  The horse I was grooming, Star (he had a real Icelandic name and I'm the lame-o who couldn't memorize it) was very comfortable with being brushed all over, so I actually got to brush him in places I thought would make a horse uncomfortable. I'm not squeamish with that stuff, so it was a good experience for me.

We tacked up - we used an Icelandic saddle. Super comfy and sits a little further back on the horse to accommodate the Tolt.

We went into an indoor arena and she hopped on and showed me how she steers, how she tilts her pelvis forward and says "walk on", how she moves her pelvis is larger figure eights to get a fast walk, how she rolls her seat in, but keeps her back at the same vertical to as for a tolt. For walking, hands followed the head movement (the minute they didn't, Star would stop). For the tolt, they held a little more pressure.

Then I hoped on and we worked on the opening rein discussed, looking with my head and shoulders, with a direct rein to straighten out the body. It's something that needs a little bit more work to get used to. There was absolutely no leg squeezing, just relaxed and neutral.

It seems so simple, but it tripped me up a bit! It's certainly something that the sooner I get back to and work on, the better, but it's a more expensive lesson (well, it was a great value at 2+ hours for $100, but that's not something I want to spend week on top of my regular lessons). My thinking is to get out there a little over monthly based on my work week schedule.

Summer Camp for One, Please

I am hardly one to drool over the bigger horses. As an adult beginner, I think I love the control I feel (misguided or not) of being on the ponies. But there's nothing like a successful lesson on a big horse to make you question your priorities.

I've had 2 weeks off (summer weekend social life is not conducive to getting to the barn), but I got a 45-minute private lesson thanks to all the kiddies being tuckered out from Camp week. (I'm not jealous of camp week. I'm 30, why would I be jealous? Spending a day painting horses, playing tag on horses? I'm too old for that stuff. Ugh. Dammit.)

I rode the thoroughbred quarter horse mix that I hadn't in a while. He belongs to someone in the program that only rides him about once a week. They have a nice deal going where he gets worked, she gets a discount off board, and the program gets a solid almost-schoolmaster. Not sure where over 16hh he is but he's up there. It'd been a while since I'd been that high up, but I only noticed when I was getting on (and off, like when forgetting there's an extra step and you kind of go, "Whoomph."). He's been hard at work for camp and, as my instructor was explaining, the horses are at their best when they're working most days of the week. Especially the thoroughbred types.

I would say Tony's thing is he gets a little strong once you start jumping and cantering him. He actually likes a pulley rein, which just seems wrong to me, but okay, I'll do what I have to to get back down to a walk. He will also choose not to jump if he thinks you're nervous, but I am proud to say that happened once and then I got in the mindset of "we're going over this jump and I'm already thinking of what happens next" and we progressed pretty quickly. In that 45 minutes we accomplished:

- Sitting up a little straighter at the trot to get that dressage look (and, more practically, learn not to lean forward on a very forward horse)
- Getting straighter to the jump (ok, still working on this)
- Half-halting/ right rein&right leg to keep him from drifting away
- Staying off his back upon landing (so he doesn't hit the rail with his back legs
- Being straighter after the jump so he doesn't take a hard turn
- Cantering without leaning forward (amazing how you have to teach me the same lesson at the trot and at the canter, but I'm kind of a dunce like that)

The jump was only 2ft, (we use cavaletti blocks that are 24”L x 15”W x 9”D) but she did build it up to look like an oxer to try to make it look scary.  I feel pretty ready to try 2'9" again soon!

No lesson this coming weekend, but I've set up a lesson closer to home for next week with an instructor who has Icelandic horses and teaches centered riding. I'm pretty excited to find something I can get to during the week. More to come on that. I will try to remember taking pictures. This blog is so dull without them!

Horse flies are no joke

Horse flies: Not a play on words, apparently.

The horse I was on was getting eaten alive if we stood still for even a second. He actually had blood on his legs from the previous lesson where they were standing still for too long. I was worried he'd lose patience with what we were putting him through.

This was the same horse I rode last time. He also dumped me a couple years back when we were both much greener and he abruptly stepped out of the ring and into the woods. It's nice to be on nicer terms now.

We are working on half halts and it's just amazing how being aware of half halts has opened things up to new complexities. Like, right in front of the jump, he will drift right if I don't use a strong leg and a half halt (both on right side). If I use more than a half halt (pull and hold) his neck has no room for the jump and he will refuse.

He requires only the occasional squeeze (I counted every eight steps of the trot) to keep going, so I'm trying to use leg less, so he stays responsive to it. And trying not to pull on his mouth. Sometimes he gets stuck following after his friends when I want him to go a different way, so I have to pull the rein to my belly button to turn his nose and kick with the outside leg.

We did a jump to a bounce, and then the reverse. I did okay, but something about the bounce to the jump was messing me up a bit. I didn't have time to reorganize after the bounce to do the strong leg-half halt mentioned to keep him from drifting. So staying organized after jumps will be my big challenge if I hope to put a course together - those three jumps in a row were just at 2 feet. Sigh.

Personal record in time at barn

This was  my first time spending 4 hours at a barn. I realize most people who are into barn life practically live there and may find that rather sad. It was an unusual circumstance where my instructor had to exercise the horses during the week and there were only a couple other people around. I got to help out with watering and bathing the horses (it was 90+ degrees). I also got a lesson and watched her train a couple different horses, explaining how she's bringing up a young pony who is "really mean right now" and currently dumping people.

My lesson started with dressage working on a trot on the bit. There was bending and counterbending and half halts and then hooooolding the balance once his head drops. I've seen other people get their horse's head down by separating their hands, but this was all done with hands together (which I guess is what you'd want to do in a dressage test with a tough judge). It was really cool and felt great in those moment where I got it.

We then went outside to jump a little bit. They were 2, maybe 2' 6" jumps that felt really easy to go over on this horse. It was nice to string a couple jumps together and still feel organized.

By the time I could have taken a practice ride I was pretty done from the heat and walked next door to the golf course where my husband was finishing up and ordering us a pizza :) Georgetown is a pretty great place to ride and play golf and eat pizza, all on the same block. Something for the whole family ;)

Go right! Go right!

Have you ever gotten over the last jump in a line, felt really good about it (to the point of distraction) and felt that sudden lurch of your pony deciding she wants to take a sharp left to join her friends? It's amazing how focused on the jumps I can be, but when I focus on doing everything before and after the jump perfectly, the jump is really just a free moment to focus on the next thing.

We did 3 jumps (built up to 2 feet) with broken lines and it really made sense to go right at the end. Of course the horses lined up on the left side led my pony to want to take a sharp left to rejoin. It mostly required looking where I wanted to go and not taking no for an answer.

I also got one refusal on what was basically just a filled in 2 foot jump (so it just looks a little scary to the rider) because the pony drifted left quite stealthily. Again that was about willpower more than anything - and looking in the right spot. The body does the right things when your willpower is strong enough!

Do you ever learn something new just at the end of a lesson that feels you're unlocking some sort of door? But, of course, the lesson is over, so you don't get the satisfaction of fully understanding what door you even opened? I was approaching that scary, drifty-friendly jump and was told to "wait, wait, wait..." and then had this most beautiful jump. Like I was cruising in a Ferrari down an empty highway. Like I was 6 years old on the big-kids swing set.

Anyways.

So I was able to control the takeoff spot. I didn't know I could do that.  I waited to give a good squeeze at the spot I wanted. That's different from what I read (but of course it is. You're supposed to read, but don't actually learn anything until you do it. And even then, every horse is different). But it worked (for this pony). I can't wait to try it again to make sure it wasn't just a fluke or beginner's luck.

I stood up for you

Tired of leaning forward over jumps, I decided this lesson was not going to be the lesson where the bad habit continues. What follows is how I broke the habit in just one lesson:

1. Ride the easy pony: I picked the "jumps anything" show pony so I wouldn't have to overthink steering. She likes a loose rein and listens to your leg and will just jump. Simple.
2. Plan to stand in my stirrups. Oh I know, it must seem like a bad thing. But I thought to myself, if I'm not going forward, I'll just plan to go up. Up off the saddle like my head is a helium balloon. Here's a video of me doing a broken line and trying that out for a change:


I don't really know what's going on with the canter. I'm sure it has something to do with the broken line and me confusing her by pushing her over in a less-than-stellar way.

Also I think I sit down too early? But the jumps are so small, I feel like it's okay that I'm working on one thing at a time. I'm calling this a success.  So:

3. Have it feel correct so your body will want to do it again. Smoothest jumps yet. The jumps are, what, 18"? If I'm more excited about that than the 2'6" jumps I've been a mess over, well, I guess that says something about where the actual work gets done.

Using my counter-intuition

I rode in a outdoor that, I'll be honest with you, I didn't know we could use for lessons. It was huge! When we were working on jumping I loved the feeling of cantering away for a good few seconds. Normally in the indoor you have to slow down sooner to not be in the next jumper's way. Wheeeeeeeee!!!!!!

Ok, that being said, I royally sucked at riding yesterday. I'm going through serious growing pains in two directions:
1. Learning to ride horses that respond very differently to rein pressure
2. Learning to jump properly without overthinking it

They're both related.
The horse I rode yesterday was initially Western-broke. Before my instructor told me that, I noticed she was more responsive on a loose rein. She would actively fight me if I gathered up the reins and tried to pull her at all in one direction or another.

And she'd refuse the jump if I didn't have almost a full loop in the reins. Usually my release happens when they're already jumping. This is probably wrong. It's definitely wrong for her. Can't blame her. She probably feels all compressed and uncomfortable. But it's counter-intuitive when you're worried she's going to run out, to just rely on your legs! We had a bounce to a two stride, and we'd usually duck out before that last jump. Could not put the whole thing together by keeping the reins loose and using a good driving seat. Also kept collapsing and it's totally noticeable when the horse refuses because suddenly your hands are on her neck for balance! Busted!!

My brain says yes, my body says no. Just counter-intuitive stuff that I'm sure other adult beginners feel.

Hold me closer tiny jumper

I had to squeeze into a rather full lesson this weekend, after not riding for about 3 weeks. The only horse left has only been ridden a couple times recently. He's known for rushing jumps. I guess at his old barn he was rushed at them constantly and no amount of un-training will get it out of him now. Maybe that's not true. Maybe it is. I am not a trainer.

So in this awkward video below, you can't see that my instructor is walking us to the jump, holding him back until the last moment. We talked a lot about when I should hold him back, and when I should let him go, because holding him back too long means he (rightfully) refuses the jump. Something I have to feel to know the right moment. You can tell from the way my back is arching (that looks really bad btw - that can't be right!) that I'm holding him back between these tiny jumps.

 

This video is in only available in slo-mo because that's what the 11 year old who filmed it deemed most useful to her audience.

 

It was an interesting lesson. Another girl in my group was jumping 3' on the greener horse I rode last time. It's amazing how you can have people of so many different levels get a lot out of a group lesson.

I can't tell you how often it is on my mind that I need to ride more during the week (or even during the month) to improve so I'm not working on basics over tiny jumps

Jumping Greener

In yesterday's lesson I got to ride the greenest horse in the lesson program. He's actually 6 years old and has been worked on extensively by my instructor and ridden by other lesson students, so I can hardly pretend it was a huge challenge.

There were a couple things he would do that emphasized I needed to be gentler with him:
He would start cantering if I asked too strongly for a trot.

He would bulge his shoulder out if he didn't want to move away from his friends (I am still learning to deal with that better).

And he would make this horrible grinding sound on the bit if I was putting too much pressure - it was like the audible manifestation of his building anxiety. When we were watching others take their turn at the jump, I would let the reins go down to the buckle to chill him out (unless he'd try to eat giant splinters of the indoor - why do they DO that?!)

We worked on jumping 2' jumps, including an oxer and an imitation of a rolltop (the things you can do with polls and cavalleti blocks!) and I really just focused on keeping control until the end and then not getting in his way. I'm sure a more advanced rider could figure out how to keep their leg on without overdoing it with him, but for a first time jumping a somewhat-green horse, that was my method and it worked fairly well.

I'm excited to ride him again in the future. Because our lesson program is small, I can keep track of how everyone is progressing and I don't want to fall behind everyone else! Of course, when everyone else gets to ride 3+ times as much as you do per week, there's only so much you can do!

Figure eights for jumper turns

We've been working a lot on turning, which (I know, this is obvious) gets harder when you are 1. Going faster 2. Turning more sharply 3. Turning sooner before a jump.

When I first started riding, I was at a hunter barn and there was no discussion about tight turns. It probably would have come up in more advanced lessons, but the side pass and making sure we "used our corners" on the rail was about it. Before and after every jump, we had time to get back on the rail and take a nice, wide turn. In fact, I was more likely to turn too early than have trouble turning at all.

My instructor uses ground poles in different formations to get us to turn correctly. By setting them up parallel and spread a horse width apart, we have to do very tight snake by walking between the poles.

She also sets them up in the shape of a box and has us think up different ways to do a figure-eights and clovers with them - here are some examples:

Sourc: HorseJournals

After, she had us go to the other side of the ring and do a figure eight. The cool part was we found ourselves naturally imagining the box, and this made our figure eights retain their shape even without the poles.

We've also been working on using ground poles as a guide to get us to turn before a jump, so maybe a ground pole just off the rail that then requires an immediate sharp turn to be straight in time to go over a jump.

I've been having lots of fun and learning a lot about control in general. I'm still working on steering in the canter - it's hard for me to do endless perfect 20m circles (let alone one), but we're getting there...slowly. I just don't have much time in my weekly group lesson to really work on it.

And in other progress, my position over jumps is improving. It's not very hight, but I can keep control and position over 2 feet under varying circumstances. I'd like to think that being really sound at this will help me when we start to string together higher jumps.

Finally, spring is coming! I'm hoping to do at least 1 show this year. Maybe a 2-phase, but at least another jumper show!

Jumper turns with gentle hands

I scored a private lesson yesterday and got to work on doing tight circles (at the trot) over a jump, as well as broken lines. I had to go over a jump, circle back and jump it again, find the broken line to the next jump, halt when I was straight on, then repeat the process over the next jump.

Yeah, I used SnapChat to draw it out and then screengrabbed it. What of it???

The getting a straight line to the jump in time to halt was hard! One time we were riiiight in front of the jump. I suppose if the horse I was riding liked to rush jumps, it would be a good exercise, but in the case of a horse that has been refusing jumps, I was motivated to do better.

One thing I gave myself a pat on the back for - I'm getting better and using multiple aids at once - half halting while lifting a should while bending and then releasing better over the jump. It was tricky to release when you also have to turn the horse in a circle, but something I know how to work on now (hopefully)!

Sunfishing and Stayin' On

Today I rode a 5-year-old that was very green. More green than any horse I have ever ridden (I know, that’s not saying much). Our lesson group was so crowded because of the extreme temperatures the day before that he was the only pony left. They put him on a lead rope and a working student had to jog along side my as we worked on trotting in a straight line. A lot of head-tossing happened. We went over a cross rail a few times. I got taken of the lead rope to go over the cross rail by myself and went into a trot that turned into a bolt and bucking that probably only lasted 20 seconds but was very exciting. Finally was able to walk the pony to the jump, go over it and bring him back to a very sloppy halt. I learned a lot about liiiight aids. Tiny pulses for half halts. Tiny squeezes from quiet legs.

I have a new-found respect for people who train young horses. This guy was small - I wasn’t that scared because just weren’t that far from the ground. But apparently I missed the training session where he tripped and fell with my instructor on him. He’s been better about picking up his feet ever since. Phew.

A brief LOTR reenactment

I broke my wrist playing football in October and was down for the count for just a month as far as riding was concerned. Then I was off for my honeymoon in New Zealand, where I managed to get an awesome trail ride in. My husband and I have been together for 6 years and this is the first time we were on horses together so that's quite the achievement. It was an amazing ride - there were wild goats battling, baby cows romping, creeks and hills to ramble across.

There I am with my awesome wrist guard. A lot of the horses were standardbred (and bay, as you can see!). There were a lot of horses to spot during our drives across the country. I would be prefectly happy picking up that lifestyle permanently.

In other news, I got back to my riding lessons these past two Saturdays. My flatwork is like riding a bike - I have no problems getting back into it, and even saw improvement this past Saturday keeping the horse at a trot between two big (okay, 2'9", but big for me) jumps. I really need to get someone to video tape me because I have no idea what I'm doing in the air, it just feels very disorganized. Even though I'm better about re-organizing between jumps, I want to get that beautiful position with the release I see in every photo ever.

It was about 5 degrees in the indoor this weekend. After a half hour of trotting I had regained feeling in my fingers but completely lost feeling in my toes. There was frost on the horses muzzles, they had a lot of energy to get out, but were actually very well-behaved. I rode a different horse the weekend before who bolted on me (for only about the length of the indoor until he came up on his friends' butts). It all happened too fast to be scary. Those OTTBs can move. What an amazing feeling. I mean, bad that it happened, right? But put yourself in my position - I've never gotten to flat out gallop a horse. So just a taste of it was sort of thrilling.

I know. It's no wonder I break bones all the time. I'm missing the gene that says "Don't do this! It's dangerous! Abort!" You think I'm kidding? In New Zealand we went skydiving and I didn't have an ounce of fear. I was like, well if I die, it'll be quick!"