Ending On a High

The stables where I ride are on Pony Camp next week so you'll be glad to hear this is my last blog for a week or so. I hope they all have a wonderful time but I know I'll miss the horses incredibly. Anyway, onto my lesson today. And yes, it was a fabtabulous one. I was back on trusty Shadow today, [yep, really making me get used to different horses], but its great and a fantastic learning curve for me. So Shadow and I were reunited and he made me work. I had to be really bossy both with my legs and using the half halts today as we nearly went trotting down a hill but its safe to say I have the handle on the half halts now. Along with some good trotting and some fantastic leg work and rein work from myself, even if I do say so, Shadow was a dream to work with, despite him not stopping for my instructor, but more about that soon.

Some Great Cantering

You've heard me bitch and moan about my lack of ability to get the horses to canter. Well, my instructor took a crop with us today, didn't use it but Shadow must have known it was there and cantered like his heart depended on it. I'm sure horses, like us, love to let lose and Shadow didn't disappoint today, so much so he wouldn't stop so I got the best canter out of any horse I've ridden so far. One extreme to another, eh? As you can tell, he did stop eventually and before you ask, I wasn't in control of the reins as I'm still learning so my hand was gripped onto my saddle. But we all know what my future holds, cantering with the horse's reins in my firm control. I am now OK to trot and walk without being lead on the whole and my progress is testament to the trust I've built with my instructor and the horses I'm riding. It felt good to canter like that and getting into the rhythm, like everything else seems more natural every time I do it. Horse riding is the best thing I've ever done! It lifts my spirits and the cuddle and kiss I had with my handsome friend this afternoon made me feel so good. He trusts me as much as I trust him and I truly feel I ended this spell of riding on a pure high. Can't wait to get back into the saddle already and continue to learn so much both from my instructor and from the magnificent creatures that allow us to partner with them in their beautiful world.

Getting Control

Frustration was a hefty part of my mood last Thursday and I couldn't bring myself to share my misery with you all. But today, despite the weather being the moodier, my mood was as bright as sunshine after riding. I rode another horse today, a beautiful gelding called Kenny. He's a little more bouncier in his gait but more responsive to get cantering, hence the switch. It's been a while since I had a good canter and struggled to get him to do it at first but on two occasions I managed to and fell into his rhythm rather well. I'm still holding back a little I think and he felt that and quickly transferred back to a trot. Getting to know a horse is one thing for a rider but for the horse to know you is also another thing you need to remember. He has a quick speed naturally and my instructor asked me to get him to go quicker and be more forward in his walking. I did this with simple nudging from my legs, or as we say in horse riding, squeeze the sides but gently enough and without the hips to tell your horse you don't want a trot, but just to walk faster, "Step out". I succeeded in this quite effectively and another thing I did notice, as did my instructor was my hands are doing what they are supposed to and not their aerodynamic demonstrations on the rains as they were the previous classes. I have a real issue with my reins constantly lengthening and a tip I read on School your horse blog was to ensure you keep your thumbs firmly on the reins so they don't lengthen and you have total control of your horse at all times. After all, you're in charge. So I think once I gain a bit more confidence and be a little bossier, my cantering will be flying and slowly but surely, I'm feeling like I am improving. Despite even the bad rides, I have come on so much since I started riding a year ago and I'm super pleased and hope Thursday's lesson is as good as today's, if not better.

Put Your Leg on

In good news today, my movement is becoming more fluid and natural. My hands are getting used to what I need them to do and I'm gradually learning with ease to move the horse where I need it to be. The bad news, putting my leg on to get the horse to canter as this particular one needs a lot of leg and to be heavy in the saddle to get it to transition from a trot to a canter has so far failed very miserably. This is the good part of switching horses though as I said in my previous post that horses are as different as you and I and it's one area now I need to work on. Putting your leg on a horse, depending on what you are doing with your body gives a horse a clear message. We squeeze them to walk on and squeeze again to transition to a trot and again for a canter. However, some horses need a little more to push them from one transition to the next and my "keeping leg on" motion is not yet strong enough. So next lesson, switching up horses again to someone I haven't rode in a long while who I know from previous experience is hard to get going. So time to work those inner thigh muscles. Overall, I was pleased with my class today as I managed to keep the horse trotting even when she was slowing down, I put my leg back on her and kept her going. Plus, moving her to the left of the road and keeping her straight was much improved on last lesson so I made a few steps progress. Now onto the hard work. But I know with time, I'm gradually getting better so I'm not dismayed and am eager to learn more; which I know I will thanks to the amazing horses and great instructor

Switching Up is A Good Move

No, don't panic, it's not past Tuesday, I've upped my lessons to two a week.

 

Thursday's Lesson

 

I've been riding a beautiful white horse named Shadow the past month or so while learning to canter. He's responsive and made me work in my previous lesson. But as I was told on the Tuesday, I was being switched to another horse so I learnt how different horses need to be handled and so I'm not too complacent in the saddle during trotting and cantering.

 

All horses have a different rhythm and different personality, why shouldn't they? They are, after all, individuals despite them travelling in packs in the wild. So I need to remember that while on the back of a horse, its responses to me may differ than another horse's. Not to mention how fast or smooth it travels will differ greatly also.

 

Anyway, Thursday I arrived to be put on Bella again; a beautiful mare who I learnt to rise trot on and whom I had developed a great soft spot for. Over the months I'd ridden her, I learnt how she could be stubborn and mindful, like any typical woman, I can hear most men say. But I found her irresistible and a sweetheart and being back on her was like falling back into a familiar comfortable chair. Yet, it was different this time. I had been learning, as I previously said, to move the horse and control it much more in my previous lesson with Shadow. So having control of Bella was another new challenge I was facing.

 

She's lighter in the mouth so much less rein work needs to be done on her and this is a skill I'm determined to perfect before long. Judging through my hands how the horse is responding and knowing when I need to push on with the leg more. I sure found that out later in the lesson.

 

So we trotted, and my instructor was pleased how I adjusted to rising trot back on Bella after all this time. I have to say, secretly, I'm still amazed how easy it now comes. It's almost second nature. The little parts we're adding feel still quite alien, like the push of the hips when transition and the manoeuvring that I know in time will be done without much thought.

 

Cantering? Really?

 

Clearly, trotting with Bella comes much more naturally for me than cantering on her as I've not done that before. And sadly, cantering wasn't going to happen during Thursday's class. Bella needs much more leg than Shadow did and this is again another difference that you learn quickly about the horse beneath you. I couldn't get her to go but seemed to make a little headway with the new method of moving this beautiful mare beneath me.

 

I look forward to Tuesday's lesson and hope you'll join me for the next entry.

 

Marie

 

which hand? which leg? what is she Doing?

No, I haven't yet lost my mind. But learning some of the things I've been learning this week is sure to blow my mind at some point or it will, like most things, just click.

 

 

Anyone who says riding is easy, you just get on a horse and the horse does the work has clearly never learnt to ride properly.

 

 

Alongside my cantering, my lesson on Tuesday consisted of moving the horse again. Instead of just the reins, legs are used more effectively from the rider to move the horse to the side. This entails what I can only describe as a coordinated minefield, at least that's how it felt during my lesson.

 

I touched on this in my last blog but now I'm getting a better idea of what I'm supposed to be doing, although if you asked the horse I was riding he would have asked "what is she doing," or more to the point, "what does she want me to do?" But as in all learning curves, we have to go through the bumps to make it a smooth ride.

 

On Tuesday, I just was not getting it. Hands were confusing the poor horse so much, I bet he was glad to rid himself of me. To move the horse left, not turn, move, the hand needs to pull gently toward you, not how you turn left where you ask the horse to turn its head to the left but just a subtle action with your left hand and a push of your right leg to let the horse know he needs to move to the left. The opposite works for moving to the right. And always ensure your hands return to the central point once the required movement has been complete.

 

I know all of this is necessary for my knowledge to become an accomplished rider and will all make sense along the way but Tuesday was mind boggling to me.

 

 

Half Halt

Because I'm being given the reins more and more during my lessons, having the horse listen to me rather than looking to my instructor is a challenge I'm also facing. So in comes the half halt. This is a clever technique where the rider is essentially telling the horse, "Hey, you need to listen to me". Little half movements as though you were halting the horse, but quickly release the reins in a gentle rhythm allows you to demonstrate through the horse's mouth that his attention needs to be on you, his rider. How the bit works, I'll come to in a later post. But by this rhythmic method, by allowing the bit to let your horse know, I'm in charge, you can quickly gain much more control effectively. I was very surprised how quickly this technique worked. After a few moments, the horse wasn't trying to follow my instructor and was walking in a nice straight line and responding to me.

 

So until next time, thanks for reading guys.

 

More To riding than, Well, Riding

A lot of the opposition I've faced in my life has revolved around my sight impairment. This is still true with riding and being around horses. Thankfully, not where I ride, however. Once I knew I was achieving my goals on the back of the horse, I knew one day, I wanted to own my own horses. That is still a dream but I knew that in order to be a good horse person, I would need to learn how to care for these beautiful animals. Being blind strikes fear into most people and because the increase of para equestrianism, being on the back of a horse is a little more acceptable but some still have their reservations about allowing the disabled to ride freely. I am aware of restrictions I will have to put myself under as a horse owner, when I have my own and will no doubt adjust to taking care of my horses with techniques that work, but I know I will one day, finances aside, be able to own my own horses and care for them. One of the restrictions is definitely riding out but there are ways even around this, ride out with others or have someone sighted alongside you on the ground but it's not impossible. Riding aside, and back to caring though. The people I've spoken to who almost fall into fits of apprehension when they discover I not only ride but am learning Stable management is hilarious. "What if you get kicked, or bitten or stood on?" they ask with trepidation in their voices as though no sighted rider or horse owner or anyone working with horses has never had these things happen to them. Some have said my mum, despite my being 27 years old, is irresponsible for letting me go off on my "crazy whims" of wanting to do such things as ride and learn how to care for horses. I'm lucky, I guess, my mum was a horse owner herself in her youth and frequently tells me she was bitten, kicked and stepped on more times than she cares to remember and there's nothing wrong with her sight even now. My attitude is, it happens, it happens. It's about learning how to be around the horses, how to handle them and ensure they're working with you and not against you. As in riding on the horse's back, trust is a huge issue in my book and once your horse trusts that while you're brushing near his sensitive hooves or around his delicate face, that you mean him no harm, then his level of calmness and submission will rise around you. I started off reading a great book by Heather smith Thomas, "Care and Management of Horses" from the iBooks store that taught me a lot of things I needed to know. Spacial awareness, for example, and how you need to let your horse know to get out of your space if he tries to crowd you. How leading him should be done with your shoulder against his to ensure you're leading, not him. And many things I have read in that book are helping me along with the instruction from my teacher. So far, I've learnt to remove all my horses tack after a ride, how to brush him, how to be around his legs, how to move and constantly allow him to know where I am, how to brush mane and tail, move with him when he moves or move him out of my space if he encroaches on it. I've also learnt how to lead correctly and before long, more little things shall be coming, I have no doubt. I just wanted to note that even this side is possible and I'm learning bit by bit, as I am in riding and both are going hand in hand with one another. It's a great learning curve and I'm thankful I found a stable where they're open minded enough and willing enough to teach me these things. I'll be forever grateful to them for this experience and hopefully future experiences I may have with them.

More cantering and controling direction

First of all, this week I had my regular instructor back so was super excited. The cantering's coming along a little. Hopefully that'll continue to improve each time, lower in the saddle, relaxed but I'm still loving it. As well as that this week and the occasional rising trot I was being taught how to move the horse with my legs. Initially you learn how to move the horse with the reins and your hands but eventually, the idea is to try and move the horse with your legs too. This is especially useful when the horse needs to move over to the left or right for some reason, I.E., moving aside for a car or moving the horse to the left side of the road. You have to put the leg on your horse's side and push to allow him to understand that you want him to move in the direction your leg is pushing. I grasped this concept relatively quickly but soon developed a crazy quirk, lifting my opposite hand on the rein in the air for some bizarre reason but that like other strange things will get worked out. I've learnt to walk the horse independently with my instructor's guidance but this week was the first I trotted independently which was a huge boost to my confidence. So onward and up, right?