It's the start of the long weekend! Who isn't totally excited? I know I am. The day was a bit dreary because of the rain and there were thunderstorm warnings for the Erin area. I wasn't keen on riding out in the rain. Last time I rode in the rain, Nikki was being a big pain about the rain and it made for a difficult ride.
I got assigned Atlas this lesson who was spending his time out in one of the paddocks by himself. When I went to get him, he trotted over and seemed happy to come out of his paddock. It might be a good lesson. During tack up, he's a little bit more lively than usual and we get ready quickly.
The lesson starts out the usual trot warm-ups to get our rhythm together and Atlas is a good boy today. Probably in part due to the fact that I've also decided to remember to bring a crop and got him forward thinking right away. He's moving along nicely and we do a lot of seated trot. I hate seated trot. I work on keeping my weight down in my heels and my hips loose. For some reason, Aspen is the only horse which I have little problem doing this.
We continue to work on the seated and posting trot and work up to the canter. I am reminded of my incorrect hand position and I keep telling myself to remember that I have to have my hands in the right place as they tend to drop lower. Keeping a deep seat on Atlas is difficult for some reason. I find myself bouncing around and I have to be careful to maintain my forward perspective and my balance because I feel like I'm being tossed side to side. His canter is also one of those canters that is higher and he tends to launch himself up and forward. At one point, he takes the incorrect canter lead and I didn't really notice enough of a difference between the right lead and wrong lead. How to know you're on the right canter lead? Like diagonals, you look down at the horse's shoulder; their inside front leg should be leading when they canter and not the other fore leg. If you get the wrong lead, you should feel very off balance.
Sheri tells us that we can work on the double X jump, cavaletti or box jumps. Atlas is a big pain to deal with for this. I try to get him over the cavaletti to get warmed up and he continues to slow to a trot just before the jump. Sheri tells me my 2-point is all wrong and that I'm leaning on his upper body--I get ready too early and then I'm leaning over him. This is more difficult than I thought! She says that I should just relax a bit more and let him "take me into the 2-point". I try and try and try again without much success. He even refuses one of the jumps and veers off to the right. *sigh* I work harder at trying to understand what it is that I'm doing right. I try using the crop enthusiastically a few steps before the actual jump in addition to my leg aids to remind him I want him to move forward. The first time it just didn't work and he gets into another trot. He even mega trips over the cavaletti at one point and almost took the whole thing with him. I know. Geesh.
The lesson is almost over by now and I have one more chance to see if I can get over the double X jumps--I figure why the heck not. So I push and push him just before the jumps and relax into the 2-point when it seems natural for me to be pushed into it. And what do you know! He sails over the jumps and I go with him! HURRAH!! Success :)
I am bursting with joy that I've been able to keep him going in a canter over the jumps! Looks like I'm improving on this and I"ll be able to keep progressing forward so that I can ride any horse! My next horsey adventure is this Sunday at the Teen Ranch horse show with ADW and his young cousins!
Showing posts with label lessons with atlas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lessons with atlas. Show all posts
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Monday, April 29, 2013
Lesson #24 & 25: Regularity and Persistence
Who's with me about Friday's awesome weather?? Kick.ass, right? I was so excited about Friday's wicked weather and the prospect of riding outside I probably vibrated out to Greyden. The week felt long because I spent part of it doing a juice cleanse and I actually spent a lot of time missing the opportunity to chew and taste: I love tasting salt, spices, fat and animal proteins. I'm not a mega carnivore but I do enjoy tasting these things on a relatively regular basis.
We parked and saw that the larger stable door was open... "We're riding outside!" I thought happily. Unfortunately, it wasn't happening because one of the mares spooked, bolted and threw off one of the advanced riders! So, Sheri told us we'd ride indoors because Kent's horse is a warmblood whom she didn't feel confident would be ok out in the outdoor ring and like always with horses: better safe than sorry.
We started on the right rein (meaning the right rein is on the inside of the ring) this evening, posting trot around... trying to get our rhythm. We usually start on the left rein and it felt really strange doing it on the right this time... strange like you're wearing the shoes on the wrong feet! But, as with most things (not like wearing shoes on the wrong feet!), things come together and flow. We worked on "X" jumps and ground poles. Atlas has got to be the laziest horse I have ever met. He did look a little tired when I got in, but man... he was brutally dull that evening! I kicked and kicked and flapped and kicked some more and he just ignored me!
Anyways, when Atlas got a bit more forward, I worked on getting him into a canter and who knew: he seems able to get into canter from a walk or even stop! He does throw his head high though... which explains why he typically wears a martingale. This time, the canter felt much better because I noticed I wasn't wrapping my legs around his body and I was able to keep my weight in the seat and stirrups without toppling over!
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I decided that to move forward with my riding, I need to get more saddle time and made arrangements to have an additional biweekly lesson on Sunday mornings. Sunday mornings are very different than the evenings. The stables are lively and the horses are generally outside in their paddocks socializing and eating. The vibe is very different and I really enjoyed it.
I was assigned Nikki but I was hesitant because of the times I've ridden her, she's been even more lazy than Atlas has been. But, we rode outside today and guess what? She was very forward and I had to slow her down a few times! This time, Sheri got us doing a low straight jump and an X jump--both one after another. We posted around the ring during the trot and two-pointed over both jumps while alternating our exiting turns. This was A LOT of fun and I felt it was really helpful for me to work on jumping and turning.
Sheri took a video for each of us and showed us how we were doing and it seems my upper body posture isn't bad but, the biggest thing holding me back are my heels. I need to work on relaxing my ankles and just dropping my weight into the heels in a passive way. It's something that most people have to work on because calve muscles seem to be tight. I also notice this when I do my yoga classes as my heels don't touch the mat in downward dog. But, if I work on it regularly, it moves that way!
We parked and saw that the larger stable door was open... "We're riding outside!" I thought happily. Unfortunately, it wasn't happening because one of the mares spooked, bolted and threw off one of the advanced riders! So, Sheri told us we'd ride indoors because Kent's horse is a warmblood whom she didn't feel confident would be ok out in the outdoor ring and like always with horses: better safe than sorry.
We started on the right rein (meaning the right rein is on the inside of the ring) this evening, posting trot around... trying to get our rhythm. We usually start on the left rein and it felt really strange doing it on the right this time... strange like you're wearing the shoes on the wrong feet! But, as with most things (not like wearing shoes on the wrong feet!), things come together and flow. We worked on "X" jumps and ground poles. Atlas has got to be the laziest horse I have ever met. He did look a little tired when I got in, but man... he was brutally dull that evening! I kicked and kicked and flapped and kicked some more and he just ignored me!
Anyways, when Atlas got a bit more forward, I worked on getting him into a canter and who knew: he seems able to get into canter from a walk or even stop! He does throw his head high though... which explains why he typically wears a martingale. This time, the canter felt much better because I noticed I wasn't wrapping my legs around his body and I was able to keep my weight in the seat and stirrups without toppling over!
=====
I decided that to move forward with my riding, I need to get more saddle time and made arrangements to have an additional biweekly lesson on Sunday mornings. Sunday mornings are very different than the evenings. The stables are lively and the horses are generally outside in their paddocks socializing and eating. The vibe is very different and I really enjoyed it.
I was assigned Nikki but I was hesitant because of the times I've ridden her, she's been even more lazy than Atlas has been. But, we rode outside today and guess what? She was very forward and I had to slow her down a few times! This time, Sheri got us doing a low straight jump and an X jump--both one after another. We posted around the ring during the trot and two-pointed over both jumps while alternating our exiting turns. This was A LOT of fun and I felt it was really helpful for me to work on jumping and turning.
Sheri took a video for each of us and showed us how we were doing and it seems my upper body posture isn't bad but, the biggest thing holding me back are my heels. I need to work on relaxing my ankles and just dropping my weight into the heels in a passive way. It's something that most people have to work on because calve muscles seem to be tight. I also notice this when I do my yoga classes as my heels don't touch the mat in downward dog. But, if I work on it regularly, it moves that way!
Monday, April 8, 2013
Lesson #22: Sensitivity Training
Sometimes things go leaps and bounds and other times nothing seems to work. Friday was one of those days where nothing seemed to come together the way I wanted. Corporate world, for one, was kicking my butt and left me in a beat-up frame of mind by the end of the day. But, I would persist, stand proud and leave behind everything by heading out to Greyden for the evening. This is our first lesson since returning from Iceland.
When we drive in, I see them putting Indy out to the paddocks for the evening and wonder if I saw that incorrectly... I've been riding Indy for several weeks and I was probably just getting used to him... I have separation anxiety issues, it appears! I'm riding Atlas tonight. I admit I was mildly disappointed because the last time I rode Atlas, I had a good deal of difficulty to communicate properly to get him to move. So, it was off-putting for me when I saw Atlas beside my name.
Atlas is a sweet curious young silver gelding with wavy hair. Reflecting back on my tack-up, I think that though nobody else was able to pick up on my slight disappointment, he was. He was jumpy around me and restless. When we got into the arena, he was jumpy and uncertain with me on his back. I spent the lesson working on transitions, a few cavaletti jumps and we learned something new: turn on the forehand.
I haven't come close to mastering this move and so I don't understand the breakdown completely so I won't try to review it here. But, it is something we'll be working on soon, again, I hope! Although rudimentary, it's a challenging move and I think I over did it... it involves flexion of the horse to initiate the turn but I think I was a little forceful about it.
I left the lesson feeling deflated, defeated and depressed that Atlas didn't like me. Completely crazy, I KNOW. I lamented on the way home and even the next day about this. But, after reflecting, I realize Atlas is sensitive and picks up on my body language, thoughts and easily translates this into our relationship. When I'm not sure about my own actions or self-worth, it makes Atlas uneasy because he's not sure if he can trust me or not. If anything, he did what he was supposed to and didn't throw me off or give me a kick when I wasn't in the right frame of mind. Hopefully, I have the opportunity to ride him again next week and I'll work on both my image of self and trust with Atlas.
When we drive in, I see them putting Indy out to the paddocks for the evening and wonder if I saw that incorrectly... I've been riding Indy for several weeks and I was probably just getting used to him... I have separation anxiety issues, it appears! I'm riding Atlas tonight. I admit I was mildly disappointed because the last time I rode Atlas, I had a good deal of difficulty to communicate properly to get him to move. So, it was off-putting for me when I saw Atlas beside my name.
Atlas is a sweet curious young silver gelding with wavy hair. Reflecting back on my tack-up, I think that though nobody else was able to pick up on my slight disappointment, he was. He was jumpy around me and restless. When we got into the arena, he was jumpy and uncertain with me on his back. I spent the lesson working on transitions, a few cavaletti jumps and we learned something new: turn on the forehand.
I haven't come close to mastering this move and so I don't understand the breakdown completely so I won't try to review it here. But, it is something we'll be working on soon, again, I hope! Although rudimentary, it's a challenging move and I think I over did it... it involves flexion of the horse to initiate the turn but I think I was a little forceful about it.
I left the lesson feeling deflated, defeated and depressed that Atlas didn't like me. Completely crazy, I KNOW. I lamented on the way home and even the next day about this. But, after reflecting, I realize Atlas is sensitive and picks up on my body language, thoughts and easily translates this into our relationship. When I'm not sure about my own actions or self-worth, it makes Atlas uneasy because he's not sure if he can trust me or not. If anything, he did what he was supposed to and didn't throw me off or give me a kick when I wasn't in the right frame of mind. Hopefully, I have the opportunity to ride him again next week and I'll work on both my image of self and trust with Atlas.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Lesson #15: Bad Habits
This was my make-up lessons and guess what? The weather sucked even MORE than last Friday. So, while the drive already put a good deal of stress on me, when I arrived, they gave the horse I was intending to ride, away! I had looked forward to riding this boy for the last few days. So, to make the best of a crappy situation, I checked out another horse that I was inquiring to ride: Atlas. He's another fuzzy silver pony who's half brother to Indy.
He's not a big boy but I already sensed some sort of tension between he and I. I tacked him up quickly and we skated (literally :( ) to the lesson arena. Sheri isn't teaching tonight and we are introduced to a new instructor, Kim.
Kim has a different style than Sheri does and I feel that she's more technical than Sheri is right from the get-go. Likely a good match for adult students. At the mounting block, I try to mount Atlas and he starts wandering away from me! It's pointed out to me that I need to shorten his reins so that he is told not to move anywhere. To be honest, I haven't had that issue with any of the other horses I've ridden... but safe horsemanship is key.
We work on posting trot and some seated trot. Atlas is pretty slow and it takes a lot to get him to move. I get the impression that he doesn't really enjoy moving as much as his brother Indy does. There is ground pole work and figure 8's where we need to remember to change our diagonals at the center. Balance is also worked on through 2-point during trotting. I still have to work on my balance as well as the position of my reins. Kim points out that I give too much rein to Atlas and I have to pull too far to get him to do things. It seems that the intention is to appear to actually move as little as possible relative to what people can see. I will be working on keeping my hands as quiet as possible next lesson.
I didn't realize that I had so many "bad habits" as it were until Kim pointed them out to me. Things that I should be focusing on, in order to look put together and to ride properly. With that, my goals for the next few lessons is to keep in mind:
- quiet hands
- heels down--long legs
- controlled reins.
He's not a big boy but I already sensed some sort of tension between he and I. I tacked him up quickly and we skated (literally :( ) to the lesson arena. Sheri isn't teaching tonight and we are introduced to a new instructor, Kim.
Kim has a different style than Sheri does and I feel that she's more technical than Sheri is right from the get-go. Likely a good match for adult students. At the mounting block, I try to mount Atlas and he starts wandering away from me! It's pointed out to me that I need to shorten his reins so that he is told not to move anywhere. To be honest, I haven't had that issue with any of the other horses I've ridden... but safe horsemanship is key.
We work on posting trot and some seated trot. Atlas is pretty slow and it takes a lot to get him to move. I get the impression that he doesn't really enjoy moving as much as his brother Indy does. There is ground pole work and figure 8's where we need to remember to change our diagonals at the center. Balance is also worked on through 2-point during trotting. I still have to work on my balance as well as the position of my reins. Kim points out that I give too much rein to Atlas and I have to pull too far to get him to do things. It seems that the intention is to appear to actually move as little as possible relative to what people can see. I will be working on keeping my hands as quiet as possible next lesson.
I didn't realize that I had so many "bad habits" as it were until Kim pointed them out to me. Things that I should be focusing on, in order to look put together and to ride properly. With that, my goals for the next few lessons is to keep in mind:
- quiet hands
- heels down--long legs
- controlled reins.
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