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!
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!
Welllll, riding is an expensive hobby bottom line. It wouldn't make much sense for your trainer to give you a hard time for finding a suitable horse to lease at a more reasonable rate!
ReplyDeleteAgreed! I will let her know eventually. I think I hesitate in telling her, because I don't want her to think I'm transitioning over to the other barn. I could, if I wanted to, but it's a totally different vibe (competitive vs. laid-back) and I like being in both worlds.
Deletewow. that's an expensive jump if you wanted to do more. i certainly would have done the same thing as you! if they were particularly keen on keeping you to do more (b/c you asked), then they should have found a way to make it happen. it's a business, plain and simple. nothing to feel bad about!
ReplyDeleteThanks! They have working student opportunities, but they're a big commitment (the students work for SIX hours to get to practice ride). I'm so happy with the situation I found!
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