Oh yeah . . . Riding lesson #4

Got up this morning and the sun was absent. Droplets of water collected on my windshield on the way to my riding lesson. Wind was blowing as I got out to the barn. I got Drew out. I ask him to stand and he walked off. Maybe it is just a cloud over my head?

Drew knows to stand when he is put in a place and told to stand there. Makes me wonder what the rest of the day will be like.

We fixed that minor problem and move on to grooming and tacking up. Out to the arena, I ask Drew to stand again. He looks around and walks off. Wondering what this all means I go and get him and bring him back. We do a little training session. Finally I can walk away to get the mounting block and he stands.

I have been thinking about why the trot all of a sudden freaked me out. It was a lack of control I had over Abby. I was afraid of that lack of control. Drew walking off was again a lack of control and was started to frustrate me. I knew that if I did not have control of this horse I would not trot.

I got on Drew and the first think we worked on was a good solid, "Whoa." Every horse is trained slightly differently. I worked with Roger and got Drew making a good solid, but soft "whoa." I don't want an abrupt harsh stop, but a solid one. We practiced that a bit.

Okay. . . I said I would trot today. Damn it I did. So without hesitation, I did. I think I took R aback a little.

"Your trotting." Then he paused. "Oh yeah you did that last time."

"Nope I didn't."

"Great!" Then "But that doesn't mean you don't have to keep him on the rail."

What a trainer. . .

LOL

Oh my gosh, then I just had fun. I was doing circles, quarter lines, figure eights, and on and on. I will have to admit that I was not doing them as well as I would like, but I have not really ridden in 3 years. I was so pleased with myself.

I think R said it best when he said, "last time you were just walking around, now you are actually riding."

Trotting . . . thinking about it

I have a very tired worn book on my book shelf. I would be very sad if I ever lost this book, particularly this copy that has water stains, holes, and binding that is starting to give away. It is a much loved book, it has notes and parts underlined. Many a day have I read a passage and practiced it with my departed horse, Hope. I hope that you have this book on your shelf too: Centered Riding by Sally Swift. I don't care if you ride dressage, western pleasure, hunter, saddle seat, trail, or any other equestrian sport, Centered Riding is the corner stone of riding in my humble opinion. It is based on basic biomechanics.

Thursday is drawing ever closer. I said nearly three weeks ago that I would trot on my next riding lesson. Leaping a the chance to drive last week I evaded it for another week. One reason I am still so apprehensive is because I just have not been thinking about it. Just like my first ride on Bill, I have to take a lot of time to visualize what I am going to do. I just haven't.

So I thought, I should read what Sally has to say about trotting. This is actually a neat position to be in, sort of a beginner again, only with a lot of experience. A bit of an oyxmoron, but rather accurate. I know what to do, but I have that disconnect.

So what does Sally have to say about trotting? First she reminds us of position again. Take a plumb line from your ear down through your ankle. In fact if you remove your horse out from under you, you should still be standing straight and balanced. Keep your chest open, being a large chested woman, this one is a bit difficult for me. She talks a lot about the ankle. Keeping them soft, not shoved down as we are so often taught. Remember for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Push your heels down, you actually push yourself out of the saddle. Just relaxed, we have about 25 percent of our weight in our legs so just keeping your leg softly draped around the barrel of the horse and a soft ankle will allow your ankle to drop. Keep an equal amount of weight in both stirrups.

I love Sally Swift for all her visualizations. Your body filled with ice cream that melts out your heel. This helps you to sink into the saddle, and also draws your leg down. Another visualization is to imagine your legs are so long that they drag in the mud, to again draw your leg down around the horse's body. For the rising trot imagine a bungee cord attached to your belly button pulling you out of the saddle, up and forward for every stride.

Reading over these parts, is helping me to think about the trot. Remember how it feels. My muscles remember what to do and I know that after the first few steps it will just be a matter of quieting the negative self talk and allowing myself to enjoy the ride. I actually do like to remember the feel of the trot. It is rather a comforting gait, so steady and rhythmic.

So I am going to do this. . two more days!

Trotting

Last Thursday I had another riding day. I rode Drew again. Good horse, man I wish I had enough money to buy him. He is the type of horse I need. Nice and calm but responsive. He has been trained by R. so he is really nicely trained, not a dressage horse, but excellent foundation to go on and do whatever I would want to do. Drew has been show extensively in 4H, used in drill teams, knows now to drive, and great on the trails. Unfortunately costs more than I have right now. Isn't that always the case?

Anyway, I was a little embarrassed that I did the whole lesson walking again. I have to admit, happily though, that it is getting boring. I just realized that I have not been preparing my mind for the next step. I have not been visualizing a trot, I have not been really thinking beyond walk.

Why?

Well like yesterday looking at Zoe's behavior, I had to stop and think about my own. When I fell off Abby she was trotting. Seriously that was it. But I couldn't stop her. So that is my fear. If I trot I will be able to stop Drew? I think I know that I can. Rationally I know that I can. I can make him halt, back, turn on the forehand, turn on the haunches, and side pass. Now it is pretty silly to think that I will not be able to handle the transition from walk to trot. Right. . .

Well I have two weeks to prepare myself. Next week I will drive and then, God willing Drew will not be sold, and I can trot him.

I do feel that little bit of fear that he will sell before I can trot on him. Someone is coming to look at him this week I think. After he sells it will be Corrie and I will have to gain confidence on her before trotting. Not that I am not gaining confidence overall, but I just need to gain some on one horse right now. So I want to trot Drew before he is sold. That means if he is not sold in two weeks. I trot.

Now off to visualize soft trotting transitions and anchoring the relaxed feeling. . . oh I have not told you about that. I will do that after Sunday Stills. Promise.

Monday Goals

Okay craptastic weekend aside, here is the scoop from past week.

1) Lose 2 lbs. by drinking h2o and tracking my WW points. a I actually lost 3 and got my 5% star for losing 5% of my start weight!
2) Finish That Winning Feeling Very close.
3) Try some different exercises this week. a I actually got Wii Active. I started the 30 day challenege.
4) See Kinsey and ride CJ. I want to ride Kinsey next month. . . mostly so she'll be a little more fit and I will be a little more thin! a I obviously saw Kinsey but I did not mention that I did ride CJ and actually trotted a few steps. I am actually not very comfortable in a western saddle, but it was good.

New Goals:
1) lose 2 more lbs.
2) Finish That Winning Feeling
3) Keep up with the 30 day challenge
4) I am not sure whatto put here this week.
Okay so I am calmed down a little. Eventually I will be able to ride a horse like Kinsey. I was just really bummed that now I don't have a horse to get my confidence back on again. And that I have two horses that I can't ride; and a few other issues. I mean besides CJ but I hate to use him too much, not that I work him hard.

I am going to be taking some driving lessons. A local halflinger breeder gives driving lessons. That should be fun, and I can start driving my little guy.

I also got sick, and feel like total crap.