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riding log
Jun. 2nd, 2007 12:02 amOMG it was *hot* today. We rode in the indoor arena again, just to keep the horses out of the sun and away from the bugs. It was another lesson with Tina, very similar to last week's in that it was mostly work without stirrups. She's trying very hard to get everyone up to speed on developing an "independent seat." I think I already have mine, basically, but it doesn't hurt to practice more! Except today, it did; for some reason my inner thighs were *really* unhappy about sitting trot with no stirrups.
I have one tiny quibble about Windrush; all their saddles have a "grab strap" at the front. It's a little strap between the two sides of the saddle that passes over the horse's withers. And it's a serious crutch. IMNSHO, a rider shouldn't be doing things where they feel a need to hang onto the grab strap; it makes it harder to steer the horse, and puts one's balance off. I am very lucky in that my instructor from long ago did not outfit her saddles with grab straps, so I just pretend it's not there. The other three women in my class all use the grab strap and are finding it a very difficult habit to break. Marge will yell at people for using it when she doesn't think they need to.
(Jumping straps may be another thing; this is a strap that goes around the horse's neck, about 10 inches in front of the saddle, to hang onto when riding in two-point position, trotting over poles, and jumping. In the very small amount of these things I have done recently, though, I haven't used it; I am more inclined to grab the horse's mane, which I suppose might hurt the horse.)
But anyway... so, after all that work without stirrups, we switched to cantering. A lot. Guiness, though he's very willing, is still a bit "green" and so we worked on sitting trot to canter transitions, which he doesn't like very much. He prefers to go from a walk directly into a canter. He was "getting it" pretty well; the biggest problem is that once he figured out we would be cantering a lot, he didn't want to stay in a trot until I asked him to canter! The boy does like to go. But it was so hot that he wasn't quite as enthusiastic as usual, so sometimes it was hard to keep him cantering.
After the lesson, I sponged him off, and he was doing OK until there were other horses and people crowding him a bit, and then he started shying. Once I led him away from everyone else, he calmed right down. I put him in his paddock and did the hippotherapy lesson (after drinking a LOT of water), and when I passed by his paddock again, he pricked his ears up at me. Did not come over to say hi, but I understand; he was in his run-in shed where it was cooler.
I have my trial lesson at Windkist tomorrow, and while I am looking forward to it, I am going to miss Guiness.
I have one tiny quibble about Windrush; all their saddles have a "grab strap" at the front. It's a little strap between the two sides of the saddle that passes over the horse's withers. And it's a serious crutch. IMNSHO, a rider shouldn't be doing things where they feel a need to hang onto the grab strap; it makes it harder to steer the horse, and puts one's balance off. I am very lucky in that my instructor from long ago did not outfit her saddles with grab straps, so I just pretend it's not there. The other three women in my class all use the grab strap and are finding it a very difficult habit to break. Marge will yell at people for using it when she doesn't think they need to.
(Jumping straps may be another thing; this is a strap that goes around the horse's neck, about 10 inches in front of the saddle, to hang onto when riding in two-point position, trotting over poles, and jumping. In the very small amount of these things I have done recently, though, I haven't used it; I am more inclined to grab the horse's mane, which I suppose might hurt the horse.)
But anyway... so, after all that work without stirrups, we switched to cantering. A lot. Guiness, though he's very willing, is still a bit "green" and so we worked on sitting trot to canter transitions, which he doesn't like very much. He prefers to go from a walk directly into a canter. He was "getting it" pretty well; the biggest problem is that once he figured out we would be cantering a lot, he didn't want to stay in a trot until I asked him to canter! The boy does like to go. But it was so hot that he wasn't quite as enthusiastic as usual, so sometimes it was hard to keep him cantering.
After the lesson, I sponged him off, and he was doing OK until there were other horses and people crowding him a bit, and then he started shying. Once I led him away from everyone else, he calmed right down. I put him in his paddock and did the hippotherapy lesson (after drinking a LOT of water), and when I passed by his paddock again, he pricked his ears up at me. Did not come over to say hi, but I understand; he was in his run-in shed where it was cooler.
I have my trial lesson at Windkist tomorrow, and while I am looking forward to it, I am going to miss Guiness.
