Well, after saying "I think one of the best things I ever did was stop riding Pinto in lessons" last night I rode Pinto in my lesson!
I was given a choice of either Pinto or Paco, and I was too tired mentally to cope with Paco's gittishness, never mind that I think I'm really too heavy for him. Plus we were having a dressage lesson, so I knew I could cope on Pinto, well just about anyway.
The warm up was good, and Pinto listened to me for about 15 minutes before switching into "lesson mode" and started pulling before that though we were complimented by Katia, even earning a "très bien" so we must have been doing something right!
On the plus side I even managed the sitting trot across the diagonal, and though I felt a bit bouncy, I still felt I was able to contain everything to a certain extent and I didn't feel unbalanced.
We then went to work in open order, doing transitions between halt/walk/trot. I practiced everything in sitting trot, (apart from halt to trot - I'm not that flexible yet to cope with the big jump Pinto does into trot) which I was really pleased with. Pinto was very attentive to the aids, and we had some great transitions from sitting trot to walk with seat aids only. Trot to halt still feels very clunky, and although I "fix" everything (seat, back, shoulder, elbow) I still feel as if I'm dragging on the rein, even though I'm not pulling back - but we were getting the transition pretty directly with only about half a stride of walk inbetween. Halt to trot is much better, but still not direct. Pinto will begin to move off in walk then give a huge spring into trot, but I'm having problems regulating the aid enough so Pinto knows to move directly to trot, but not too much else he rushes and looses all the soft-and roundness.
Our main exercise for the lesson was 'head to the wall'. Pinto was *awful* on the left rein, refusing to slow down, refusing to bend, basically refusing to think. At this point he was making a pretty good effort of just towing me everywhere (in walk) and I had to concentrate hard just to get a decent slow walk out of him. On the right rein everything was different. First of all I concentrated on keeping the walk slow, til I felt that we were just dripping along (surprisingly at the same pace, even if still abit quicker than the school horses!). Eventually Pinto settled into it and stopped fighting the bit so much (at this point there was a lot of gnashing of the teeth going on). On the right rein he would bend easily into the wall, and I could really feel him stepping across with his fore and hind legs, so after having a huge guilt trip about dragging him about and making him upset on the left rein (gnashing teeth, open mouth, curled nose, tongue poking etc) I felt much better about the right rein.
After a trot to stretch out came the canter exercise, and Pinto turned into a hooligan. Pinto understands the French "galop" very well, and Katia was giving detailed instructions on what we should be doing, and every time she says "galop" Pinto is getting more and more excited. Basically we were to trot in a circle at the C end, and then one at a time come down the long side, transition to canter between F and A, continue and come back to trot at H and join the circle again. It makes me so mad. I get absolutely sick with nerves about doing these exercises on Pinto, yet I know I could do it with my eyes closed on Elcypse. I went first to get it over and done with. Didn't get a transition at F, but fall into canter at K, bound along for 4 strides then haul ( ) to a trot at C. After that I can get no further sense out of Pinto. We end up trotting 7m circles with my inside hand somewhere about my knee to make sure he is bent to the inside as he is all over the place pulling and hauling and basiclaly just wanting to take off. After a few minutes he settles a bit and we try the exercise again. We make some semblance of a transition at F, fall back to trot at A, get the transition again at K, and Katia is going "pousse, pousse" and I'm thinking "not on your nelly mate!"
The only thing I can think of that was good about the canter was that my bum isn't sliding across the saddle (polishing).
The next exercise was a complete disaster. We were meant to trot around onthe piste, then transition to canter at A and continue up the centre line, transition back to trot at C. Pinto was bounching everywhere, doing his 100mile an hour trot, pulling me left and right. I know people look at me and think that I should just go with it and get on with the exercise. The thing is I DON'T WANT a hooligan horse who dictates when and where we canter. We continued trotting around the outside of the school, with some choice words in Pintos ear when he tried to pull me into canter on the corners, until he settled down and trotted around politely. At this point I had already been told to get on with the exercise, and yes, half of it was fear, but like I said, *I* want to ask Pinto up into canter, not Pinto charging off whenever he feels like it. So in the end after 1 circuit of relative politeness we turned up the centre line, I asked for the transition, but didn't push it when we didn't get it. I know the problem is that I just don't trust Pinto to stop (or to continue in a straight line). My balance is horrid, and a slight swere left or right and I'll be off.
I've gon over and over in my mind why I can canter on Eclypse, but not Pinto, and it's not the speed. It's the movement. Both Pinto and Eclypse are about the same height and build, though Eclypse is not quite as wide. Eclypse will canter just as fast as Pinto, but his movement is not very big. You can sit on Eclypse all day and not feel that you are doing much work to keep your bum in the saddle. Pinto has this huge jump in canter, each and every stirde, and I find it terribly unbalancing.
I'll get there eventually, I'm sure... it's just taking a lot longer than i first thought!
Friday, March 7, 2008
Friday, February 15, 2008
01 February - Eclypse
Had another fantastic lesson last night, so thank you to the wonderful Eclypse, who is such a fantastic confidence giver.
For as long as I can remember I have had a major issue with coming off the piste in canter... mainly due to past experience where as soon as we come off the piste the horse makes a dive left or right and I end up coming off.
Well I cracked that one last night
We were having a dressage lesson, and are now at the stage where we warm up in walk trot and canter, and that was great. Had a great time in trot going from really sloooooow to pushing on. the canter was good as I was able to reaffirm with myself that the last lesson wasn't a fluke, and I could still canter lol.
Our lesson this week was the "head to the wall" exercise. I was glowing by the end, having earned no less than 3 "bien"s from Katia
Then as a reward for the horses we have a final canter at the end of the lesson. Oooh I was so adventurous! It started out by coming off the piste to avoid some one who was having trouble with the transition up, then I was off! Circles, ovals, not going right to the top of the school, going off on the 3/4 line.
I was absolutely on cloud 9 then immediately sad and upset because I just don't have the same confidence on Pinto. I feel so bad because although I was having fantastic fun cantering round on Eclypse, I still get the willies at the thought of cantering Pinto in the manege, and I don't know why, because I was going as fast on Eclypse and what I do on Pinto. Sometimes I think I need my head read!
For as long as I can remember I have had a major issue with coming off the piste in canter... mainly due to past experience where as soon as we come off the piste the horse makes a dive left or right and I end up coming off.
Well I cracked that one last night
We were having a dressage lesson, and are now at the stage where we warm up in walk trot and canter, and that was great. Had a great time in trot going from really sloooooow to pushing on. the canter was good as I was able to reaffirm with myself that the last lesson wasn't a fluke, and I could still canter lol.
Our lesson this week was the "head to the wall" exercise. I was glowing by the end, having earned no less than 3 "bien"s from Katia
Then as a reward for the horses we have a final canter at the end of the lesson. Oooh I was so adventurous! It started out by coming off the piste to avoid some one who was having trouble with the transition up, then I was off! Circles, ovals, not going right to the top of the school, going off on the 3/4 line.
I was absolutely on cloud 9 then immediately sad and upset because I just don't have the same confidence on Pinto. I feel so bad because although I was having fantastic fun cantering round on Eclypse, I still get the willies at the thought of cantering Pinto in the manege, and I don't know why, because I was going as fast on Eclypse and what I do on Pinto. Sometimes I think I need my head read!
10 January - Eclypse
It's the first lesson I've had in about a month due to my illness and then the holidays, but it was FANTASTIC!
It was just a basic dressage lesson, and I was riding Eclypse, who is a complete sweetheart, but has an exceptionally bouncy trot!
We were working an the paces, and our entire lesson (after warm up) was working on slowing the pace and then quickening the pace between the quarter markers on the longs sides of the school.
What fun!
Starting off in walk, then progressing through to trot and then canter over the course of the lesson.
How marvelous!
Just feeling the difference, especially in trot! taking it from s-l-o-w where there was a definite pause between each stride... right on the verge of walk which I found i could sit very lightly and *really* feel the advancement of each hip separately, to putting my leg on and *really* feeling his shoulders lift and he extended his stride.
Holy cow!
And the canter! Eclypse is just so comfortable in canter and I had an ENORMOUS amount of fun, unfortunately didn't have much luck in slowing the canter, but speeding up WOW! I really felt as if I had overcome something last night, only once or twice I felt a bit tense but I soon overcome this and was even able to relax my elbows. For some reason I was able to sit still in the saddle, and even when we were haring round the corners ( ) I just relaxed into it and sat deep and stuck with it (my usual response is to curl forward which is incredibly unbalancing).
Today I'm aching in about 6 different muscle groups, but I think it's the best lesson I've ever had!
It was just a basic dressage lesson, and I was riding Eclypse, who is a complete sweetheart, but has an exceptionally bouncy trot!
We were working an the paces, and our entire lesson (after warm up) was working on slowing the pace and then quickening the pace between the quarter markers on the longs sides of the school.
What fun!
Starting off in walk, then progressing through to trot and then canter over the course of the lesson.
How marvelous!
Just feeling the difference, especially in trot! taking it from s-l-o-w where there was a definite pause between each stride... right on the verge of walk which I found i could sit very lightly and *really* feel the advancement of each hip separately, to putting my leg on and *really* feeling his shoulders lift and he extended his stride.
Holy cow!
And the canter! Eclypse is just so comfortable in canter and I had an ENORMOUS amount of fun, unfortunately didn't have much luck in slowing the canter, but speeding up WOW! I really felt as if I had overcome something last night, only once or twice I felt a bit tense but I soon overcome this and was even able to relax my elbows. For some reason I was able to sit still in the saddle, and even when we were haring round the corners ( ) I just relaxed into it and sat deep and stuck with it (my usual response is to curl forward which is incredibly unbalancing).
Today I'm aching in about 6 different muscle groups, but I think it's the best lesson I've ever had!
Friday, October 26, 2007
6th lesson (Jump)
Another new experience this week... riding a "proper" horse... i.e. one that is about 16hh.
My first thought was "OMG how am I going to get on him", but getting on was no problem... I didn't even have to lower the left stirrup from where I measured it to.
My second thought (on collecting the saddle) was "OMG that saddle is sooo narrow" and true enough when I put the saddle on his back it was really, really tight over his withers and shoulders. This was manifested when I was riding by Jump being trippy and stumbly.
Other than being too narrow, Jumps sadle was like sitting on a block of wood, and it put me in the most hideous position with my legs waaaay out infront of me. When trotting, I felt so far behind the movement that it was really unbalancing, especially with Jump putting in the odd short stride here and there!
This week was more of the same of last week - using direct and indirect reins... this time on a 20m circle, trying to achieve correct bend.
For a while I was able to go it alone and do some experimenting on my own - but the saddle deffinitely did not help.
The one part of the lesson which I didn't achieve anything was the canter at the end. As soon as we were told to canter Jump started to lean on the bit and pull. I didn't even get a transition because I felt so out of control... pah!
Anyway there are no lessons for the next two weeks, so I'm planning on getting back into the manege with Pinto ;o)
My first thought was "OMG how am I going to get on him", but getting on was no problem... I didn't even have to lower the left stirrup from where I measured it to.
My second thought (on collecting the saddle) was "OMG that saddle is sooo narrow" and true enough when I put the saddle on his back it was really, really tight over his withers and shoulders. This was manifested when I was riding by Jump being trippy and stumbly.
Other than being too narrow, Jumps sadle was like sitting on a block of wood, and it put me in the most hideous position with my legs waaaay out infront of me. When trotting, I felt so far behind the movement that it was really unbalancing, especially with Jump putting in the odd short stride here and there!
This week was more of the same of last week - using direct and indirect reins... this time on a 20m circle, trying to achieve correct bend.
For a while I was able to go it alone and do some experimenting on my own - but the saddle deffinitely did not help.
The one part of the lesson which I didn't achieve anything was the canter at the end. As soon as we were told to canter Jump started to lean on the bit and pull. I didn't even get a transition because I felt so out of control... pah!
Anyway there are no lessons for the next two weeks, so I'm planning on getting back into the manege with Pinto ;o)
5th lesson (Henry)
Had a new experience tonight! I rode a pony :oD Well, a 13.2hh Haflinger called Henry.
Henry is usually only ridden in the kids classes, and he has all kinds of evasions which go with that. Not that I blame him - imagine being kicked and kicked to go forward, but then being jagged in the mouth every stride.
It was very peculiar riding him. I mean Pinto isn't that much taller, but he is so much wiiiiiiider he takes up my leg, with Henry because he was so much narrower I felt that my leg was just dangling in mid air. I've seen other people who are taller than me (I'm only 5') ride Henry, and their response is to hike their stirrups up. I don't know how they can balance!
Back to the lesson...
Warm up in walk and trot was interesting, and I came across Henry's most annoying evasion - he stops to poop every 5 minutes! And some times he just slams on the anchors, lifts his tail and just stands there.
After the first couple of times I tapped him smartly with a short stick, and voila! no more stopping.
Henry has a really weird trot, wrong and correct diagonals feel completely different, to the point where the wrong daigonal is practically unridable because the movement is so bizzare!
Most of the lesson was concentrating on the use of direct and indirect rein and walking in circles... which was pretty boring.
However I did get quite a good canter at the end, even if I did had to tell Henry to go at the beginning.
Quite pleased with this lesson, even if it was a bit boring!
Henry is usually only ridden in the kids classes, and he has all kinds of evasions which go with that. Not that I blame him - imagine being kicked and kicked to go forward, but then being jagged in the mouth every stride.
It was very peculiar riding him. I mean Pinto isn't that much taller, but he is so much wiiiiiiider he takes up my leg, with Henry because he was so much narrower I felt that my leg was just dangling in mid air. I've seen other people who are taller than me (I'm only 5') ride Henry, and their response is to hike their stirrups up. I don't know how they can balance!
Back to the lesson...
Warm up in walk and trot was interesting, and I came across Henry's most annoying evasion - he stops to poop every 5 minutes! And some times he just slams on the anchors, lifts his tail and just stands there.
After the first couple of times I tapped him smartly with a short stick, and voila! no more stopping.
Henry has a really weird trot, wrong and correct diagonals feel completely different, to the point where the wrong daigonal is practically unridable because the movement is so bizzare!
Most of the lesson was concentrating on the use of direct and indirect rein and walking in circles... which was pretty boring.
However I did get quite a good canter at the end, even if I did had to tell Henry to go at the beginning.
Quite pleased with this lesson, even if it was a bit boring!
Friday, October 12, 2007
4th lesson (Ilan)
Tonight I was riding Ilan who is a brown, mealy nosed, skinny legged horse of indeterminate origin. He has a bit of a reputation, and for a while had to be ridden in a slotted kimberwick with a curb chain, but at the moment he is back in a regular single jointed snaffle.
He does, however, have the most uncomfortable saddle. It is an older Wintec where the girth straps are inside the saddle flap. There is no sweat flap, and the whole saddle must only weigh about 5lbs. Having said that I could feel every seam, all the internal gubbins, and the stirrup buckles with my thighs.
His movement is very odd, the best I could describe it is that he 'slinks like a cat'. When we were just walking it felt like he was walking "S" shapes, not a straight line... it was very weird. He has a nice trot though, easy to rise to... not much elevation in his paces, and sitting trot was quite easy too.
We spent most of the lesson in walk and trot, practicing the jumping position, which I'm now finding much easier (thank goodness!).
Then... near the end of the lesson, Katia started getting poles out. I thought that we would be going over bars on the ground... you know, as an introduction... but no... she sets up a 25cm bar with a couple of trot poles before it, and that was our next exercise! Consequently I directed quite a few black looks in her direction. I would prefer to always have my BP on if I'm doing anything 'dangerous', and hopping over bars counts as dangerous in my book!
Anyway to cut a long story short, I managed to hop over quite happily 3 times! Ilan really looked after me and didn't tow me into the jump (like a certain other pone likes too)
So I'm well impressed with myself!
He does, however, have the most uncomfortable saddle. It is an older Wintec where the girth straps are inside the saddle flap. There is no sweat flap, and the whole saddle must only weigh about 5lbs. Having said that I could feel every seam, all the internal gubbins, and the stirrup buckles with my thighs.
His movement is very odd, the best I could describe it is that he 'slinks like a cat'. When we were just walking it felt like he was walking "S" shapes, not a straight line... it was very weird. He has a nice trot though, easy to rise to... not much elevation in his paces, and sitting trot was quite easy too.
We spent most of the lesson in walk and trot, practicing the jumping position, which I'm now finding much easier (thank goodness!).
Then... near the end of the lesson, Katia started getting poles out. I thought that we would be going over bars on the ground... you know, as an introduction... but no... she sets up a 25cm bar with a couple of trot poles before it, and that was our next exercise! Consequently I directed quite a few black looks in her direction. I would prefer to always have my BP on if I'm doing anything 'dangerous', and hopping over bars counts as dangerous in my book!
Anyway to cut a long story short, I managed to hop over quite happily 3 times! Ilan really looked after me and didn't tow me into the jump (like a certain other pone likes too)
So I'm well impressed with myself!
3rd lesson (Paco)
This is Paco. Look at them liccle tiny stick legs! The first time I rode him, about a year ago I felt that I was far too heavy for him, although he didn't seem to have any problems with carrying me.I didn't feel much different this time, only a bit apprehensive because he can be a bit of a git. He has his own mind and way of seeing things, and if they don't correlate with what you want, then you are in for a rare old time!
Fortunately we were learning school figures, and as I was tucked in right behind the leader we could keep going at a decent pace. Once Paco gets going (and I get over the feeling hat I'm sitting in a fence) his trot is nice and active and easy to rise to.
All we did was diagonals, over and over again, changing the rein and a few circles.
I was more than a bit apprehensive about the canter because I've seen so many people lose control and fall off Paco as he goes haring round the arena, so on the first rein I didn't manage to get canter at all. On the second rein it was much better, and once I realised that, yes it was a bit fast, and no he wasn't going to stay on the piste - but he also wasn't going to 180 on me, those few stride of canter I had was good, and I was OK!
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