I had a semi-private lesson after a 2+-month dry spell and could not have felt better about it. Was I flopping around a bit? Absolutely. Never underestimate those weird tiny muscles that control your body as you canter (leg flop) or get in 2-point (torso flop). But some consistency will help me improve those this fall.
We did a small gymnastic - worked up to a 2 stride to a 4-5 stride to a bounce, all over jumps no more than 20 inches. We hit some rails a few times due to lack of impulsion, but once we got going, Tony did it easily. Where I failed was sitting up between jumps. I get so focused on the last jump that I don't think about what I need to do to "sit pretty" for a few strides and keep the balance back. It's something to work on in the next lesson.
We also did a post at the canter - sit a stride, post a stride. I was lucky that my horse will keep cantering so long as you don't overly interfere. I did sit a little too hard, and could feel the rhythm break when I did. Again, it goes back to flopping around a bit.
I was also doing an odd thing that seemed to work. Tony is very bad at halting. He resists quite a bit and your half halts will get bigger until you're doing an uneven rein to get him to listen (I wonder, if he weren't a school horse, and someone more advanced was riding him, if a stronger bit might be better - to be able to subtly ask instead of tugging his mouth. ANYways - to get him to halt I would literally look at the ceiling. Something about tilting my head up, he could feel it, and would halt! If anything, it was a fun experiment. Not something that makes sense in the long run, but maybe there's a more subtle tilting of the body that would also work.
I want to start thinking about what I could work on during a practice ride (if I end up having the time), and one of them is controlled posting (having a softer seat?) . Another is not cutting corners at the canter. And also, not standing in the stirrups when jumping; I do find I am on the horse's neck for a second when we land.
We did a small gymnastic - worked up to a 2 stride to a 4-5 stride to a bounce, all over jumps no more than 20 inches. We hit some rails a few times due to lack of impulsion, but once we got going, Tony did it easily. Where I failed was sitting up between jumps. I get so focused on the last jump that I don't think about what I need to do to "sit pretty" for a few strides and keep the balance back. It's something to work on in the next lesson.
We also did a post at the canter - sit a stride, post a stride. I was lucky that my horse will keep cantering so long as you don't overly interfere. I did sit a little too hard, and could feel the rhythm break when I did. Again, it goes back to flopping around a bit.
I was also doing an odd thing that seemed to work. Tony is very bad at halting. He resists quite a bit and your half halts will get bigger until you're doing an uneven rein to get him to listen (I wonder, if he weren't a school horse, and someone more advanced was riding him, if a stronger bit might be better - to be able to subtly ask instead of tugging his mouth. ANYways - to get him to halt I would literally look at the ceiling. Something about tilting my head up, he could feel it, and would halt! If anything, it was a fun experiment. Not something that makes sense in the long run, but maybe there's a more subtle tilting of the body that would also work.
I want to start thinking about what I could work on during a practice ride (if I end up having the time), and one of them is controlled posting (having a softer seat?) . Another is not cutting corners at the canter. And also, not standing in the stirrups when jumping; I do find I am on the horse's neck for a second when we land.
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