Sunday, January 13, 2013

Lesson #13: Beyond Words

Friday seemed like it would never come.

AW joined me for his first lesson. We left from downtown and who knew that it would add another 30 minutes to my normal commute :( The normal rush hour really gets in the way! The weather was by no means a help to the situation since it was so foggy that you couldn't see 10 feet in front of you. The drive was rather stressful since I thought we were going to be late.

But, we made it in, just in time. I'm riding Aspen today and for some reason, he's not where he usually is. I wasn't even sure where he was until the stable girl tells me that he's not being ridden and that someone turned him out.... in the dark! Ugh. Thankfully I didn't have to go look for him but would you believe that they found him in his old stall? So now I have less time to tack than usual...

AW is riding Bud today and Bud's already in the arena. We start with the walk and then move into the posting trot once some of the preliminary items (like safety etc) were reviewed with AW. Today is going to be a struggle with my legs today. I notice I'm just not able to get my heels down where they need to be. We do alternating of seated and posting trot. I am just miserable at the seated trot! There really is no saving me with this one... I really am just not enjoying myself up there.

We work on some pole work and Sheri puts the poles out in a varied spacing and we're asked to trot over them while posting. The thing about this exercise is that the posting needs to be higher than normal. It's an interesting exercise to try since it forces you out of the rhythm I was doing at the normal trot since Aspen is forced to extend or shorten his strides. We continue on this exercise several more laps while Kent and AW work on their posting trot etc. Now, Sheri moves the Cavaletti jump to the end of the poles and we're now working on 2-point position over the jump.

It's as if I'm starting over again with the whole anticipation fear thing. I look down at the jump when Aspen and I approach and I over-think it and it's as if I'm not sure what to do next so I either end up delaying the 2-point or I don't quite get into it. It doesn't matter how many times we go over it... but nothing is coming together right tonight.

It isn't one of my better nights but that's ok. I know what I have to work on and it's mostly my mind-set with things. I need to forget what's going to happen and just do things. Like Sheri keeps telling us; horse back riding isn't something someone can tell you how to do. Someone like Sheri might be able to give us the technical breakdown but to actually do it? Well that's up to feel and our bodies being able to pick up on what it is that we need to do. It goes beyond comprehending the words.

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