One thing I love about my instructor is her ability to challenge students with different abilities in a group lesson. My friend who is a beginner to riding at 32, joined myself and a high-school aged student who has been riding for 3-4 years. The two of them were on Tony and Calvin, who are considered school masters.
I was on a 13hh 5-year-old pony with loads of natural talent and a former propensity to do the dirty-stop-and-spin. He has been under extensive training after other students have refused to get on him. I can't say he scares me. I wrap my legs around him and I'm not going anywhere.
He did teach me to stop bad behavior faster, though. The minute I could feel him starting to back up instead of go forward, I had to turn him out of it before he backed right into one of his friends. I wasn't able to get him to stay straight heading towards the first jump. He was so wiggly! But once we popped over a cross rail I could tell he would be fun to jump higher. And heading to the second jump I noticed the impulsion straightened him out. I'm not sure if that's cheating - I should be able to keep his body straight at any point, but it certainly made the jump nicer. Though he's got a narrow barrel, he's pretty solidly built, so I don't feel too big for him.
I'm excited to get on him again and work on my steering challenges. It's fun to be contributing to the saddle time to get him ready for the younger riders. Naturally, before I had even gotten on him my instructor had cantered him around the ring a solid amount of time to make him tired to make him ready for me. But I still feel like I'm moving up the chain!
I was on a 13hh 5-year-old pony with loads of natural talent and a former propensity to do the dirty-stop-and-spin. He has been under extensive training after other students have refused to get on him. I can't say he scares me. I wrap my legs around him and I'm not going anywhere.
He did teach me to stop bad behavior faster, though. The minute I could feel him starting to back up instead of go forward, I had to turn him out of it before he backed right into one of his friends. I wasn't able to get him to stay straight heading towards the first jump. He was so wiggly! But once we popped over a cross rail I could tell he would be fun to jump higher. And heading to the second jump I noticed the impulsion straightened him out. I'm not sure if that's cheating - I should be able to keep his body straight at any point, but it certainly made the jump nicer. Though he's got a narrow barrel, he's pretty solidly built, so I don't feel too big for him.
I'm excited to get on him again and work on my steering challenges. It's fun to be contributing to the saddle time to get him ready for the younger riders. Naturally, before I had even gotten on him my instructor had cantered him around the ring a solid amount of time to make him tired to make him ready for me. But I still feel like I'm moving up the chain!
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