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.
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.
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