Thursday 14 August 2014

New Trainer First Lesson

It was so cute, before the lesson I had to go to the field to bring Nancy in. I hadn't seen the girls since Saturday between pouring rain & my feeling poorly I hadn't made it to the field.
Kika was so cute, she came cantering down to me from the top of the field - she has never been that excited to see me! Talk about knowing how to get on my good side - Legend! So of course she got a cookie...perhaps why she came running LOL

Photos from last week to supplement the word vomit
Anyways as I brought Nancy in the heavens opened and drowned the pair of us. Thankfully I had given myself an hour to get her ready & be in the saddle to warm up before the lesson. I put a running braid in her mane so that I wouldn't get my hands caught. She still wasn't completely dry when I tacked her up, but i couldn't wait any longer if i was to warm her up. Despite not feeling great this week, today included, but I didn't want to reschedule the lesson as I've waited 3 weeks for it and will be away in Ireland for a long weekend next week, so he'll or high water i was having this lesson today. ☺ 

Nancy warmed up really well, we walked around on a long rein & trotted on a long rein for a good 10 minutes before collecting her up circles, serpentines and figures of eights. When the new trainer, S, came in and hooked me  up with earphones & mic - super high tech! She asked what I was having trouble with, I said right rein circles & canter departs.

She suggested we start on our better rein with trot work. Unusual to me as i would usually start on our bad side, but she must have wanted to see what our good looked like before tackling the bad. She had me carry my hands differently and then brought as back to walk. N also struggles with her walk, S had me lengthen my reins and push her forward to lengthen her stride in walk. She tends to block up, shorten her stride, roll in on herself and shift her butt to the inside as she tries to squirrel out of striding out. N really sucks back in the walk. 


We worked on trotting with circles and serpentines, N can sneak looks to the outside so S had me really work on keeping her attention to the inside by keeping my attention to the inside of the circle as if someone was standing in the center talking to me or lunging us. We did the same with canter transitions before changing rein.

We stayed on a circle on our bad rein, really working on keeping her attention and mine to the inside as we are both very bad on the right rein. Praising her when she softened and transitioning between walk and trot. She was much better than we normally managed. The handy reminders of long leg & hand positioning really helped us stay on track. We worked up to canter transitions  and got them right each time first time. However we broke back to trot when nature called and we missed our correct lead strike off on that asking, but regrouped S had me make sure Nancy & I were both looking inside the circle to increase our canter success.


Takeaways & things to work on:
- keep my focus to the inside
- bend my elbows
- long leg (my heels have a mind of their own)
- watch my shoulders

For Nancy:
- work on the walk, carry a stick to help coax her forward if necessary
- help her maintain inside bend by keeping my attention to the inside of the circles

I'm sure there was much more, but that's what I remember from our first lesson. Fingers crossed we can schedule another lesson the week after next & I can practice our takeaways between now & then. S didn't seem too offended by my riding, here's hoping she can help us improve. She did say that N is on the right track. We've to be careful with her & really work on the walk as she has a good one when she strides out, coaxing her to do so is my job. I hope I'm up to the task.

20 comments:

  1. Sounds like a good 'first' lesson back! I have a bit of a crush on Nancy, BTW :)

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    1. Nancy wins a lot of people over, she is a sweat heart.
      It was a great first lesson, hopefully we can make improvements

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  2. How cute are they in the first pic!! Glad you like the new trainer and that she had some helpful tips!

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    1. The most adorable thing about that photo was i started out scratching N all over her back and she wanted to return the favour so started grooming Kika - who returned the favour. I was then able to step back & snap some photos ☺
      Hopefully trainer can help us improve

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  3. Lots of great tips it sounds like! As a side nite, I usually warm up starting with Miles's good side first too; it helps get his muscles warm so he's a little bit more willing when we start working on his bad side

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    1. That's a good reasoning for warming up that way, now I feel bad for doing the opposite with my girls. Although my reasoning was, if we start out with the bad the better easier side after is the reward...perhaps I should just mix it up and keep us all on our toes ☺

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  4. So glad you were able to take a lesson and hopefully many more awesome ones in your future. (and as an aside, I had to re-add your blog to my feedly because I've gotten no updates from you and felt the silence was uncharacteristic. )

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    1. I hope so too, the first one went really well I felt.
      Hopefully the feedly plays ball now, you're not the first to tell me you've issues getting updates for my blog :-(
      Happy catch up reading in that case, have shared plenty pics and even some videos recently enough...nothing very fancy but some media no less ☺

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  5. That first picture is adorable! Glad you had a good first lesson.

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    1. I love that they get along so well, it is such a relief ☺

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  6. I'm so glad that you had a good lesson! I also haven't been getting updates through Feedly (Feedly honestly drives me insane). I always remember to check your blog every couple of days though or when you comment on mine though :) I hope you have fun in Ireland (so jealous)!

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    1. Aw, I'm sorry that my blog is being a nuisance for so many. Thanks for sticking with me though & going out of your way for updates *hugs*

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  7. Sounds a good lesson. What is it with you humans and those blooming circles you like us to go round and round in. I'm pleased you learnt a lot and have some things to practise. Us horses like nice riders, my human could take note of this.....

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    1. Not sure I count as a nice rider, but i try to be sympathetic. From all you've said on your blog your human sounds fab & much more caring than I am.

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  8. Glad your new trainer is working out!

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    1. Fingers crossed we can coordinate a few more spins

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  9. Sounds like a great lesson!! For your elbows you can try putting a whip behind your back and in front of your elbows (you don't have to be on a horse to practice). Also my trainer told me to think about my elbows being attached to my hips. That helped me a lot. Different visualizations click with different people so I try to share the ones my trainer tried with me in hopes it helps someone hehe. :D I can't wait for your next lesson and I hope you're feeling better.

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    1. My whips are too bendy yo help me when I put them behind my elbows, shall have to find a more solid one ;-)
      Thanks for the tips ☺

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    2. Other things work too. I think my husband said he used a stick, but you could use broom handles, dowel rods, or anything like that. :D It helped me a lot. When my trainer told me to quit rounding my shoulders and to bend my elbows I just couldn't figure it out. When she put the whip back there it's like a light bulb went off lol. I hope it helps!!

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    3. Thanks, fingers crossed ☺

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