The not so good rider
Oct. 1st, 2007 04:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quietannI have a problem.
I fell off Bearito this morning... he "refused" at a jump (quotes explained below) and I kept going and landed on my butt. I was up within seconds but still pretty rattled. Tina was nice about it, handed me the pony and told me to go cool off and get back on when I was ready to. After crying into his mane for a few minutes, I did get back on, and went through the line of jumps again, made smaller because of....
well, those "quotes". I just can't find my balance on Bearito; he's small and his center of balance is somewhere in that enormous neck of his. My going into jumping position, unless I get it just right, unbalances him and makes it hard for him to get over the jump, unless it's tiny. It doesn't help that I am a lot more top heavy than I was when I was 17, the last time I was jumping ponies of comparable size.
In short, I am too fat for him. Well, to jump him anyway. We do fine on the flat. It was totally not his fault that he couldn't get over a 2 foot rail with me on his back.
So much for this; it was a fluke. ETA: that is not Bearito! That's Trump, a 16 hand TB/Warmblood...
So I somehow need to change horses, *if* Windrush even has one that's suitable for me... I need a bit bigger horse, who is as reliable over jumps as Bearito is. Or I need to switch lessons, either back to flatwork only or "baby jumping" ... I like the lesson I am in, but it's advanced for me and I am still getting my "jumping legs" back. And somehow I need to talk to Tina or someone in the next two weeks (no lesson next week because of Columbus Day.) and find out what is possible. Which terrifies me because I am afraid they'll just kick me out because they don't have a horse I can ride, and I am kind of too weird for them anyway... Keep in mind Windrush's main focus is therapeutic riding, and a lot of the horses can't be jumped at all.
Oh, and then, after the lesson, I forgot to close the gate. (The jumping ring is within a huge field where some of the horses get turned out.) Luckily no one escaped, but I just keep making mistakes like this in my riding and horsemanship, and sooner or later *someone* or more likely *some horse* is going to get hurt.
I really just want to walk away... one moment, and then the next I realize how much I like it there.
I spent some time with Bearito afterwards, scritching him and hugging him until it was time for his next lesson.
My butt hurts, I'm cranky, and still crying occasionally over this.
I fell off Bearito this morning... he "refused" at a jump (quotes explained below) and I kept going and landed on my butt. I was up within seconds but still pretty rattled. Tina was nice about it, handed me the pony and told me to go cool off and get back on when I was ready to. After crying into his mane for a few minutes, I did get back on, and went through the line of jumps again, made smaller because of....
well, those "quotes". I just can't find my balance on Bearito; he's small and his center of balance is somewhere in that enormous neck of his. My going into jumping position, unless I get it just right, unbalances him and makes it hard for him to get over the jump, unless it's tiny. It doesn't help that I am a lot more top heavy than I was when I was 17, the last time I was jumping ponies of comparable size.
In short, I am too fat for him. Well, to jump him anyway. We do fine on the flat. It was totally not his fault that he couldn't get over a 2 foot rail with me on his back.
So much for this; it was a fluke. ETA: that is not Bearito! That's Trump, a 16 hand TB/Warmblood...
So I somehow need to change horses, *if* Windrush even has one that's suitable for me... I need a bit bigger horse, who is as reliable over jumps as Bearito is. Or I need to switch lessons, either back to flatwork only or "baby jumping" ... I like the lesson I am in, but it's advanced for me and I am still getting my "jumping legs" back. And somehow I need to talk to Tina or someone in the next two weeks (no lesson next week because of Columbus Day.) and find out what is possible. Which terrifies me because I am afraid they'll just kick me out because they don't have a horse I can ride, and I am kind of too weird for them anyway... Keep in mind Windrush's main focus is therapeutic riding, and a lot of the horses can't be jumped at all.
Oh, and then, after the lesson, I forgot to close the gate. (The jumping ring is within a huge field where some of the horses get turned out.) Luckily no one escaped, but I just keep making mistakes like this in my riding and horsemanship, and sooner or later *someone* or more likely *some horse* is going to get hurt.
I really just want to walk away... one moment, and then the next I realize how much I like it there.
I spent some time with Bearito afterwards, scritching him and hugging him until it was time for his next lesson.
My butt hurts, I'm cranky, and still crying occasionally over this.
